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Connecting to SQL Server using SSMS - Part 1

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), is the client tool that can be used to write and execute
SQL queries. To connect to the SQL Server Management Studio
1. Click Start
2. Select All Programs
3. Select Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 2008, or 2008 R2 (Depending on the version installed)
4. Select SQL Server Management Studio

You will now see, Connect to Server window.

1. Select Database Engine as the Server Type. The other options that you will see here are
Analysis Services(SSAS), Reporting Services (SSRS) and Integration Services(SSIS).
Server type = Database Engine

2. Next you need to specify the Server Name. Here we can specify the name or the server or IP
Address.If you have SQL Server installed on your local machine, you can specify, (local) or just .
(Period) or 127.0.0.1
Server name = (local)

3. Now select Authentication. The options available here, depends on how you have installed SQL
Server. During installation, if you have chosen mixed mode authentication, you will have both
Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication. Otherwise, you will just be able to
connect using windows authentication.

4. If you have chosen Windows Authentication, you dont have to enter user name and password,
otherwise enter the user name and password and click connect.

You should now be connected to SQL Server. Now, click on New Query, on the top left hand
corner of SSMS. This should open a new query editor window, where we can type sql queries and
execute.

SSMS is a client tool and not the Server by itself. Usually database server (SQL Server), will be on
a dedicated machine, and developers connect to the server using SSMS from their respective
local (development) computers.

Developer Machines 1,2,3 and 4 connects to the database server using SSMS.

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Creating, altering and dropping a database - Part 2

In Part 1 of SQL Server, we have seen, using SSMS to connect to SQL Server. In this part we will learn
creating, altering and dropping a database.

A SQL Server database can be created, altered and dropped

1. Graphically using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or
2. Using a Query

To create the database graphically

1. Right Click on Databases folder in the Object explorer
2. Select New Database
3. In the New Database dialog box, enter the Database name and click OK.

To Create the database using a query

Create database DatabaseName

Whether, you create a database graphically using the designer or, using a query, the following 2
files gets generated.
.MDF file - Data File (Contains actual data)
.LDF file - Transaction Log file (Used to recover the database)

To alter a database, once it's created

Alter database DatabaseName Modify Name = NewDatabaseName

Alternatively, you can also use system stored procedure

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Execute sp_renameDB 'OldDatabaseName','NewDatabaseName'

To Delete or Drop a database

Drop Database DatabaseThatYouWantToDrop

Dropping a database, deletes the LDF and MDF files.

You cannot drop a database, if it is currently in use. You get an error stating - Cannot drop database
"NewDatabaseName" because it is currently in use. So, if other users are connected, you need to put the
database in single user mode and then drop the database.
Alter Database DatabaseName Set SINGLE_USER With Rollback Immediate

With Rollback Immediate option, will rollback all incomplete transactions and closes the connection to the
database.

Note: System databases cannot be dropped.

Creating and Working with tables - Part 3

The aim of this article is to create tblPerson and tblGender tables and establish primary key and foreign
key constraints. In SQL Server, tables can be created graphically using SQL Server Management Studio
(SSMS) or using a query.

To create tblPerson table, graphically, using SQL Server Management Studio

1. Right click on Tables folder in Object explorer window
2. Select New Table
3. Fill Column Name, Data Type and Allow Nulls, as shown below and save the table as tblPerson.

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The following statement creates tblGender table, with ID and Gender columns. The following statement
creates tblGender table, with ID and Gender columns. ID column, is the primary key column. The
primary key is used to uniquely identify each row in a table. Primary key does not allow nulls.
Create Table tblGender
(ID int Not Null Primary Key,
Gender nvarchar(50))

In tblPerson table, GenderID is the foreign key referencing ID column in tblGender table. Foreign key
references can be added graphically using SSMS or using a query.

To graphically add a foreign key reference

1. Right click tblPerson table and select Design
2. In the table design window, right click on GenderId column and select Relationships
3. In the Foreign Key Relationships window, click Add button
4. Now expand, in Tables and Column Specification row, by clicking the, + sign
5. Click on the elipses button, that is present in Tables and Column Specification row
6. From the Primary Key Table, dropdownlist, select tblGender
7. Click on the row below, and select ID column
8. From the column on the right hand side, select GenderId
9. Click OK and then click close.
10. Finally save the table.

To add a foreign key reference using a query

Alter table tblPerson
add constraint tblPerson_GenderId_FK FOREIGN KEY (GenderId) references tblGender(ID)

The general formula is here

Alter table ForeignKeyTable add constraint ForeignKeyTable_ForiegnKeyColumn_FK
FOREIGN KEY (ForiegnKeyColumn) references PrimaryKeyTable (PrimaryKeyColumn)

Foreign keys are used to enforce database integrity. In layman's terms, A foreign key in one table
points to a primary key in another table. The foreign key constraint prevents invalid data form being
inserted into the foreign key column. The values that you enter into the foreign key column, has to be one
of the values contained in the table it points to.
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Default constraint in sql server - Part 4

In Part 3 of this video series, we have seen how to create tables (tblPerson and tblGender) and enforce
primary and foreign key constraints. Please watch Part 3, before continuing with this session.

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In this video, we will learn adding a Default Constraint. A column default can be specified using Default
constraint. The default constraint is used to insert a default value into a column. The default value will be
added to all new records, if no other value is specified, including NULL.

Altering an existing column to add a default constraint:

ALTER TABLE { TABLE_NAME }
ADD CONSTRAINT { CONSTRAINT_NAME }
DEFAULT { DEFAULT_VALUE } FOR { EXISTING_COLUMN_NAME }

Adding a new column, with default value, to an existing table:

ALTER TABLE { TABLE_NAME }
ADD { COLUMN_NAME } { DATA_TYPE } { NULL | NOT NULL }
CONSTRAINT { CONSTRAINT_NAME } DEFAULT { DEFAULT_VALUE }

The following command will add a default constraint, DF_tblPerson_GenderId.

ALTER TABLE tblPerson
ADD CONSTRAINT DF_tblPerson_GenderId
DEFAULT 1 FOR GenderId

The insert statement below does not provide a value for GenderId column, so the default of 1 will be
inserted for this record.
Insert into tblPerson(ID,Name,Email) values(5,'Sam','[email protected]')

On the other hand, the following insert statement will insert NULL, instead of using the default.
Insert into tblPerson(ID,Name,Email,GenderId) values (6,'Dan','[email protected]',NULL)

To drop a constraint
ALTER TABLE { TABLE_NAME }
DROP CONSTRAINT { CONSTRAINT_NAME }

In the next session, we will learn about cascading referential integrity

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Cascading referential integrity constraint - Part 5

In Part 3 of this video series, we have seen how to create tables (tblPerson and tblGender) and enforce
primary and foreign key constraints. In Part 4, we have learnt adding a default constraint. Please watch
Parts 3 and 4, before continuing with this session.

In this video, we will learn about Cascading referential integrity constraint

Cascading referential integrity constraint allows to define the actions Microsoft SQL Server should take
when a user attempts to delete or update a key to which an existing foreign keys points.

For example, consider the 2 tables shown below. If you delete row with ID = 1 from tblGender table,
then row with ID = 3 from tblPerson table becomes an orphan record. You will not be able to tell the
Gender for this row. So, Cascading referential integrity constraint can be used to define actions Microsoft
SQL Server should take when this happens. By default, we get an error and the DELETE or UPDATE
statement is rolled back.

However, you have the following options when setting up Cascading referential integrity
constraint
1. No Action: This is the default behaviour. No Action specifies that if an attempt is made to delete or
update a row with a key referenced by foreign keys in existing rows in other tables, an error is raised and
the DELETE or UPDATE is rolled back.

2. Cascade: Specifies that if an attempt is made to delete or update a row with a key referenced by
foreign keys in existing rows in other tables, all rows containing those foreign keys are also deleted or
updated.

3. Set NULL: Specifies that if an attempt is made to delete or update a row with a key referenced by
foreign keys in existing rows in other tables, all rows containing those foreign keys are set to NULL.

4. Set Default: Specifies that if an attempt is made to delete or update a row with a key referenced by
foreign keys in existing rows in other tables, all rows containing those foreign keys are set to default
values.

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Check constraint in SQL Server - Part 6

CHECK constraint is used to limit the range of the values, that can be entered for a column.

Let's say, we have an integer AGE column, in a table. The AGE in general cannot be less than ZERO and
at the same time cannot be greater than 150. But, since AGE is an integer column it can accept negative
values and values much greater than 150.

So, to limit the values, that can be added, we can use CHECK constraint. In SQL Server, CHECK
constraint can be created graphically, or using a query.

The following check constraint, limits the age between ZERO and 150.
ALTER TABLE tblPerson
ADD CONSTRAINT CK_tblPerson_Age CHECK (Age > 0 AND Age < 150)

The general formula for adding check constraint in SQL Server:

ALTER TABLE { TABLE_NAME }
ADD CONSTRAINT { CONSTRAINT_NAME } CHECK ( BOOLEAN_EXPRESSION )

If the BOOLEAN_EXPRESSION returns true, then the CHECK constraint allows the value, otherwise it
doesn't. Since, AGE is a nullable column, it's possible to pass null for this column, when inserting a row.
When you pass NULL for the AGE column, the boolean expression evaluates to UNKNOWN, and allows
the value.

To drop the CHECK constraint:

ALTER TABLE tblPerson
DROP CONSTRAINT CK_tblPerson_Age

Identity column in SQL Server - Part 7

If a column is marked as an identity column, then the values for this column are automatically generated,
when you insert a new row into the table. The following, create table statement marks PersonId as an
identity column with seed = 1 and Identity Increment = 1. Seed and Increment values are optional. If you
don't specify the identity and seed they both default to 1.

Create Table tblPerson

(
PersonId int Identity(1,1) Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(20)

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In the following 2 insert statements, we only supply values for Name column and not for PersonId
column.
Insert into tblPerson values ('Sam')
Insert into tblPerson values ('Sara')

If you select all the rows from tblPerson table, you will see that, 'Sam' and 'Sara' rows have got 1 and 2 as
PersonId.

Now, if I try to execute the following query, I get an error stating - An explicit value for the identity column
in table 'tblPerson' can only be specified when a column list is used and IDENTITY_INSERT is ON.
Insert into tblPerson values (1,'Todd')

So if you mark a column as an Identity column, you dont have to explicitly supply a value for that column
when you insert a new row. The value is automatically calculated and provided by SQL server. So, to
insert a row into tblPerson table, just provide value for Name column.
Insert into tblPerson values ('Todd')

Delete the row, that you have just inserted and insert another row. You see that the value for PersonId is
2. Now if you insert another row, PersonId is 3. A record with PersonId = 1, does not exist, and I want to
fill this gap. To do this, we should be able to explicitly supply the value for identity column. To explicitly
supply a value for identity column
1. First turn on identity insert - SET Identity_Insert tblPerson ON
2. In the insert query specify the column list
Insert into tblPerson(PersonId, Name) values(2, 'John')

As long as the Identity_Insert is turned on for a table, you need to explicitly provide the value for that
column. If you don't provide the value, you get an error - Explicit value must be specified for identity
column in table 'tblPerson1' either when IDENTITY_INSERT is set to ON or when a replication user is
inserting into a NOT FOR REPLICATION identity column.

After, you have the gaps in the identity column filled, and if you wish SQL server to calculate the value,
turn off Identity_Insert.
SET Identity_Insert tblPerson OFF

If you have deleted all the rows in a table, and you want to reset the identity column value, use DBCC
CHECKIDENT command. This command will reset PersonId identity column.
DBCC CHECKIDENT(tblPerson, RESEED, 0)

How to get the last generated identity column value in SQL Server - Part 8
From the previous session, we understood that identity column values are auto generated. There are
several ways in sql server, to retrieve the last identity value that is generated. The most common way is to
use SCOPE_IDENTITY() built in function.

Apart, from using SCOPE_IDENTITY(), you also have @@IDENTITY and

IDENT_CURRENT('TableName') function
Example queries for getting the last generated identity value
Select SCOPE_IDENTITY()
Select @@IDENTITY
Select IDENT_CURRENT('tblPerson')

Let's now understand the difference between, these 3 approaches.

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SCOPE_IDENTITY() returns the last identity value that is created in the same session (Connection) and
in the same scope (in the same Stored procedure, function, trigger). Let's say, I have 2 tables tblPerson1
and tblPerson2, and I have a trigger on tblPerson1 table, which will insert a record into tblPerson2 table.
Now, when you insert a record into tblPerson1 table, SCOPE_IDENTITY() returns the idetentity value
that is generated in tblPerson1 table, where as @@IDENTITY returns, the value that is generated in
tblPerson2 table. So, @@IDENTITY returns the last identity value that is created in the same session
without any consideration to the scope. IDENT_CURRENT('tblPerson') returns the last identity value
created for a specific table across any session and any scope.

In brief:
SCOPE_IDENTITY() - returns the last identity value that is created in the same session and in the same
scope.
@@IDENTITY - returns the last identity value that is created in the same session and across any scope.
IDENT_CURRENT('TableName') - returns the last identity value that is created for a specific table across
any session and any scope.

Unique key constraint - Part 9

We use UNIQUE constraint to enforce uniqueness of a column i.e the column shouldn't allow any
duplicate values. We can add a Unique constraint thru the designer or using a query.
To add a unique constraint using SQL server management studio designer:
1. Right-click on the table and select Design
2. Right-click on the column, and select Indexes/Keys...
3. Click Add
4. For Columns, select the column name you want to be unique.
5. For Type, choose Unique Key.
6. Click Close, Save the table.

To create the unique key using a query:

Alter Table Table_Name
Add Constraint Constraint_Name Unique(Column_Name)

Both primary key and unique key are used to enforce, the uniqueness of a column. So, when do
you choose one over the other?
A table can have, only one primary key. If you want to enforce uniqueness on 2 or more columns, then we
use unique key constraint.

What is the difference between Primary key constraint and Unique key constraint? This question
is asked very frequently in interviews.
1. A table can have only one primary key, but more than one unique key
2. Primary key does not allow nulls, where as unique key allows one null

To drop the constraint

1. Right click the constraint and delete.
Or
2. Using a query
Alter Table tblPerson
Drop COnstraint UQ_tblPerson_Email

Select statement - Part 10

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Basic select statement syntax

SELECT Column_List
FROM Table_Name

If you want to select all the columns, you can also use *. For better performance use the column
list, instead of using *.
SELECT *
FROM Table_Name

Group By - Part 11
In SQL Server we have got lot of aggregate functions. Examples
1. Count()
2. Sum()
3. avg()
4. Min()
5. Max()

Group by clause is used to group a selected set of rows into a set of summary rows by the values of one
or more columns or expressions. It is always used in conjunction with one or more aggregate functions.

I want an sql query, which gives total salaries paid by City. The output should be as shown below.

Query for retrieving total salaries by city:

We are applying SUM() aggregate function on Salary column, and grouping by city column. This

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effectively adds, all salaries of employees with in the same city.

Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Group by City

Note: If you omit, the group by clause and try to execute the query, you get an error - Column
'tblEmployee.City' is invalid in the select list because it is not contained in either an aggregate function or
the GROUP BY clause.

Now, I want an sql query, which gives total salaries by City, by gender. The output should be as shown
below.

Query for retrieving total salaries by city and by gender: It's possible to group by multiple columns. In
this query, we are grouping first by city and then by gender.
Select City, Gender, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
group by City, Gender

Now, I want an sql query, which gives total salaries and total number of employees by City, and by
gender. The output should be as shown below.

Query for retrieving total salaries and total number of employees by City, and by gender: The only
difference here is that, we are using Count() aggregate function.
Select City, Gender, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary,
COUNT(ID) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
group by City, Gender

Filtering Groups:
WHERE clause is used to filter rows before aggregation, where as HAVING clause is used to filter groups
after aggregations. The following 2 queries produce the same result.

Filtering rows using WHERE clause, before aggrgations take place:

Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary

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from tblEmployee
Where City = 'London'
group by City

Filtering groups using HAVING clause, after all aggrgations take place:
Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
group by City
Having City = 'London'

From a performance standpoint, you cannot say that one method is less efficient than the other. Sql
server optimizer analyzes each statement and selects an efficient way of executing it. As a best practice,
use the syntax that clearly describes the desired result. Try to eliminate rows that
you wouldn't need, as early as possible.
Joins in sql server - Part 12

Joins in SQL server are used to query (retrieve) data from 2 or more related tables. In general tables are
related to each other using foreign key constraints.

Please watch Parts 3 and 5 in this video series, before continuing with this video.
Part 3 - Creating and working with tables
Part 5 - Cascading referential integrity constraint

In SQL server, there are different types of JOINS.

1. CROSS JOIN
2. INNER JOIN
3. OUTER JOIN

Outer Joins are again divided into 3 types

1. Left Join or Left Outer Join
2. Right Join or Right Outer Join
3. Full Join or Full Outer Join

Now let's understand all the JOIN types, with examples and the differences between them.
Employee Table (tblEmployee)

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Departments Table (tblDepartment)

SQL Script to create tblEmployee and tblDepartment tables

Create table tblDepartment

ID int primary key,

DepartmentName nvarchar(50),

Location nvarchar(50),

DepartmentHead nvarchar(50)

Go

Insert into tblDepartment values (1, 'IT', 'London', 'Rick')

Insert into tblDepartment values (2, 'Payroll', 'Delhi', 'Ron')

Insert into tblDepartment values (3, 'HR', 'New York', 'Christie')

Insert into tblDepartment values (4, 'Other Department', 'Sydney', 'Cindrella')

Go

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Create table tblEmployee

ID int primary key,

Name nvarchar(50),

Gender nvarchar(50),

Salary int,

DepartmentId int foreign key references tblDepartment(Id)

Go

Insert into tblEmployee values (1, 'Tom', 'Male', 4000, 1)

Insert into tblEmployee values (2, 'Pam', 'Female', 3000, 3)

Insert into tblEmployee values (3, 'John', 'Male', 3500, 1)

Insert into tblEmployee values (4, 'Sam', 'Male', 4500, 2)

Insert into tblEmployee values (5, 'Todd', 'Male', 2800, 2)

Insert into tblEmployee values (6, 'Ben', 'Male', 7000, 1)

Insert into tblEmployee values (7, 'Sara', 'Female', 4800, 3)

Insert into tblEmployee values (8, 'Valarie', 'Female', 5500, 1)

Insert into tblEmployee values (9, 'James', 'Male', 6500, NULL)

Insert into tblEmployee values (10, 'Russell', 'Male', 8800, NULL)

Go

General Formula for Joins

SELECT ColumnList
FROM LeftTableName
JOIN_TYPE RightTableName
ON JoinCondition

CROSS JOIN
CROSS JOIN, produces the cartesian product of the 2 tables involved in the join. For example, in the
Employees table we have 10 rows and in the Departments table we have 4 rows. So, a cross join
between these 2 tables produces 40 rows. Cross Join shouldn't have ON clause.

CROSS JOIN Query:

SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName
FROM tblEmployee
CROSS JOIN tblDepartment

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JOIN or INNER JOIN

Write a query, to retrieve Name, Gender, Salary and DepartmentName from Employees and Departments
table. The output of the query should be as shown below.

SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
INNER JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

OR

SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

Note: JOIN or INNER JOIN means the same. It's always better to use INNER JOIN, as this explicitly
specifies your intention.

If you look at the output, we got only 8 rows, but in the Employees table, we have 10 rows. We didn't get
JAMES and RUSSELL records. This is because the DEPARTMENTID, in Employees table is NULL for
these two employees and doesn't match with ID column in Departments table.

So, in summary, INNER JOIN, returns only the matching rows between both the tables. Non matching
rows are eliminated.

LEFT JOIN or LEFT OUTER JOIN

Now, let's say, I want all the rows from the Employees table, including JAMES and RUSSELL records. I
want the output, as shown below.

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SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
LEFT OUTER JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

OR

SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
LEFT JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

Note: You can use, LEFT JOIN or LEFT OUTER JOIN. OUTER keyowrd is optional

LEFT JOIN, returns all the matching rows + non matching rows from the left table. In reality, INNER JOIN
and LEFT JOIN are extensively used.

RIGHT JOIN or RIGHT OUTER JOIN

I want, all the rows from the right table. The query output should be, as shown below.

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SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
RIGHT OUTER JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

OR

SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
RIGHT JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

Note: You can use, RIGHT JOIN or RIGHT OUTER JOIN. OUTER keyowrd is optional

RIGHT JOIN, returns all the matching rows + non matching rows from the right table.

FULL JOIN or FULL OUTER JOIN

I want all the rows from both the tables involved in the join. The query output should be, as shown below.

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SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
FULL OUTER JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

OR

SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName

FROM tblEmployee
FULL JOIN tblDepartment
ON tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.Id

Note: You can use, FULLJOIN or FULL OUTER JOIN. OUTER keyowrd is optional

FULL JOIN, returns all rows from both the left and right tables, including the non matching rows.

Joins Summary

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Advanced Joins - Part 13

In this video session we will learn about
1. Advanced or intelligent joins in SQL Server
2. Retrieve only the non matching rows from the left table
3. Retrieve only the non matching rows from the right table
4. Retrieve only the non matching rows from both the left and right table

Before watching this video, please watch Part 12 - Joins in SQL Server

Considers Employees (tblEmployee) and Departments (tblDepartment) tables

Employee Table (tblEmployee)

Departments Table (tblDepartment)

How to retrieve only the non matching rows from the left table. The output should be as shown
below:

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Query:
SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName
FROM tblEmployee E
LEFT JOIN tblDepartment D
ON E.DepartmentId = D.Id
WHERE D.Id IS NULL

How to retrieve only the non matching rows from the right table

Query:
SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName
FROM tblEmployee E
RIGHT JOIN tblDepartment D
ON E.DepartmentId = D.Id
WHERE E.DepartmentId IS NULL

How to retrieve only the non matching rows from both the left and right table. Matching rows
should be eliminated.

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Query:
SELECT Name, Gender, Salary, DepartmentName
FROM tblEmployee E
FULL JOIN tblDepartment D
ON E.DepartmentId = D.Id
WHERE E.DepartmentId IS NULL
OR D.Id IS NULL

It is also possible to combine WHERE and HAVING

Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Where Gender = 'Male'

Self join in sql server - Part 14

In Part 12 of this video series we have learnt the basics of joins and in Part 13 we have learnt about
advanced or intelligent joins. Please watch Parts 12 and 13 before watching this video
Part 12 - Basic joins
Part 13 - Advanced joins

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In parts 12 and 13, we have seen joining 2 different tables - tblEmployees and tblDepartments. Have
you ever thought of a need to join a table with itself. Consider tblEmployees table shown below.

Write a query which gives the following result.

Self Join Query:

A MANAGER is also an EMPLOYEE. Both the, EMPLOYEE and MANAGER rows, are present in the
same table. Here we are joining tblEmployee with itself using different alias names, E for Employee and
M for Manager. We are using LEFT JOIN, to get the rows with ManagerId NULL. You can see in the
output TODD's record is also retrieved, but the MANAGER is NULL. If you replace LEFT JOIN with
INNER JOIN, you will not get TODD's record.
Select E.Name as Employee, M.Name as Manager
from tblEmployee E
Left Join tblEmployee M
On E.ManagerId = M.EmployeeId

In short, joining a table with itself is called as SELF JOIN. SELF JOIN is not a different type of JOIN. It
can be classified under any type of JOIN - INNER, OUTER or CROSS Joins. The above query is, LEFT
OUTER SELF Join.

Inner Self Join tblEmployee table:

Select E.Name as Employee, M.Name as Manager
from tblEmployee E
Inner Join tblEmployee M
On E.ManagerId = M.EmployeeId

Cross Self Join tblEmployee table:

Select E.Name as Employee, M.Name as Manager

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from tblEmployee
Cross Join tblEmployee

group by City
Having City = 'London'

Difference between WHERE and HAVING clause:

1. WHERE clause can be used with - Select, Insert, and Update statements, where as HAVING clause
can only be used with the Select statement.
2. WHERE filters rows before aggregation (GROUPING), where as, HAVING filters groups, after the
aggregations are performed.
3. Aggregate functions cannot be used in the WHERE clause, unless it is in a sub query contained in a
HAVING clause, whereas, aggregate functions can be used in Having clause.

To Select distinct rows use DISTINCT keyword

SELECT DISTINCT Column_List
FROM Table_Name

Example: Select distinct city from tblPerson

Filtering rows with WHERE clause

SELECT Column_List
FROM Table_Name
WHERE Filter_Condition

Example: Select Name, Email from tblPerson where City = 'London'

Different ways to replace NULL in sql server - Part 15

In this video session, we will learn about different ways to replace NULL values in SQL Server. Please
watch Part 14, before continuing.

Consider the Employees table below.

In Part 14, we have learnt writing a LEFT OUTER SELF JOIN query, which produced the following output.

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In the output, MANAGER column, for Todd's rows is NULL. I want to replace the NULL value, with 'No
Manager'

Replacing NULL value using ISNULL() function: We are passing 2 parameters to IsNULL() function. If
M.Name returns NULL, then 'No Manager' string is used as the replacement value.
SELECT E.Name as Employee, ISNULL(M.Name,'No Manager') as Manager
FROM tblEmployee E
LEFT JOIN tblEmployee M
ON E.ManagerID = M.EmployeeID

Replacing NULL value using CASE Statement:

SELECT E.Name as Employee, CASE WHEN M.Name IS NULL THEN 'No Manager'
ELSE M.Name END as Manager
FROM tblEmployee E
LEFT JOIN tblEmployee M
ON E.ManagerID = M.EmployeeID

Replacing NULL value using COALESCE() function: COALESCE() function, returns the first NON
NULL value.
SELECT E.Name as Employee, COALESCE(M.Name, 'No Manager') as Manager
FROM tblEmployee E
LEFT JOIN tblEmployee M
ON E.ManagerID = M.EmployeeID

We will discuss about COALESCE() function in detail, in the next session

Coalesce() function in sql server - Part 16

According to the MSDN Books online COALESCE() returns the first Non NULL value. Let's understand
this with an example.

Consider the Employees Table below. Not all employees have their First, Midde and Last Names filled.
Some of the employees has First name missing, some of them have Middle Name missing and some of
them last name.

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Now, let's write a query that returns the Name of the Employee. If an employee, has all the columns
filled - First, Middle and Last Names, then we only want the first name.

If the FirstName is NULL, and if Middle and Last Names are filled then, we only want the middle
name. For example, Employee row with Id = 1, has the FirstName filled, so we want to retrieve his
FirstName "Sam". Employee row with Id = 2, has Middle and Last names filled, but the First name is
missing. Here, we want to retrieve his middle name "Todd". In short, The output of the query should be as
shown below.

We are passing FirstName, MiddleName and LastName columns as parameters to the COALESCE()
function. The COALESCE() function returns the first non null value from the 3 columns.
SELECT Id, COALESCE(FirstName, MiddleName, LastName) AS Name
FROM tblEmployee

Union and union all in sql server - Part 17

UNION and UNION ALL operators in SQL Server, are used to combine the result-set of two or more
SELECT queries. Please consider India and UK customer tables below

Combining the rows of tblIndiaCustomers and tblUKCustomers using UNION ALL

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Select Id, Name, Email from tblIndiaCustomers

UNION ALL
Select Id, Name, Email from tblUKCustomers

Query Results of UNION ALL

Combining the rows of tblIndiaCustomers and tblUKCustomers using UNION

Select Id, Name, Email from tblIndiaCustomers
UNION
Select Id, Name, Email from tblUKCustomers

Query Results of UNION

Differences between UNION and UNION ALL (Common Interview Question)

From the output, it is very clear that, UNION removes duplicate rows, where as UNION ALL does not.
When use UNION, to remove the duplicate rows, sql server has to to do a distinct sort, which is time
consuming. For this reason, UNION ALL is much faster than UNION.

Note: If you want to see the cost of DISTINCT SORT, you can turn on the estimated query execution plan
using CTRL + L.

Note: For UNION and UNION ALL to work, the Number, Data types, and the order of the columns in the
select statements should be same.

If you want to sort, the results of UNION or UNION ALL, the ORDER BY caluse should be used on
the last SELECT statement as shown below.
Select Id, Name, Email from tblIndiaCustomers
UNION ALL
Select Id, Name, Email from tblUKCustomers
UNION ALL
Select Id, Name, Email from tblUSCustomers
Order by Name

The following query, raises a syntax error

SELECT Id, Name, Email FROM tblIndiaCustomers
ORDER BY Name
UNION ALL
SELECT Id, Name, Email FROM tblUKCustomers
UNION ALL

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SELECT Id, Name, Email FROM tblUSCustomers

Difference between JOIN and UNION

JOINS and UNIONS are different things. However, this question is being asked very frequently now.
UNION combines the result-set of two or more select queries into a single result-set which includes all the
rows from all the queries in the union, where as JOINS, retrieve data from two or more tables based on
logical relationships between the tables. In short, UNION combines rows from 2 or more tables, where
JOINS combine columns from 2 or more table.

Stored procedures - Part 18

A stored procedure is group of T-SQL (Transact SQL) statements. If you have a situation, where you write
the same query over and over again, you can save that specific query as a stored procedure and call it
just by it's name.

There are several advantages of using stored procedures, which we will discuss in a later video session.
In this session, we will learn how to create, execute, change and delete stored procedures.

Creating a simple stored procedure without any parameters: This stored procedure, retrieves Name
and Gender of all the employees. To create a stored procedure we use, CREATE PROCEDURE or
CREATE PROC statement.

Create Procedure spGetEmployees

as
Begin
Select Name, Gender from tblEmployee
End

Note: When naming user defined stored procedures, Microsoft recommends not to use "sp_" as a prefix.

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All system stored procedures, are prefixed with "sp_". This avoids any ambiguity between user defined
and system stored procedures and any conflicts, with some future system procedure.

To execute the stored procedure, you can just type the procedure name and press F5, or use EXEC or
EXECUTE keywords followed by the procedure name as shown below.
1. spGetEmployees
2. EXEC spGetEmployees
3. Execute spGetEmployees

Note: You can also right click on the procedure name, in object explorer in SQL Server Management
Studio and select EXECUTE STORED PROCEDURE.

Creating a stored procedure with input parameters: This SP, accepts GENDER and
DEPARTMENTID parameters. Parameters and variables have an @ prefix in their name.

Create Procedure spGetEmployeesByGenderAndDepartment

@Gender nvarchar(50),
@DepartmentId int
as
Begin
Select Name, Gender from tblEmployee Where Gender = @Gender and DepartmentId =
@DepartmentId
End

To invoke this procedure, we need to pass the value for @Gender and @DepartmentId parameters. If
you don't specify the name of the parameters, you have to first pass value for @Gender parameter and
then for @DepartmentId.
EXECUTE spGetEmployeesByGenderAndDepartment 'Male', 1

On the other hand, if you change the order, you will get an error stating "Error converting data type
varchar to int." This is because, the value of "Male" is passed into @DepartmentId parameter. Since
@DepartmentId is an integer, we get the type conversion error.
spGetEmployeesByGenderAndDepartment 1, 'Male'

When you specify the names of the parameters when executing the stored procedure the order doesn't
matter.
EXECUTE spGetEmployeesByGenderAndDepartment @DepartmentId=1, @Gender = 'Male'

To view the text, of the stored procedure

1. Use system stored procedure sp_helptext 'SPName'
OR
2. Right Click the SP in Object explorer -> Scrip Procedure as -> Create To -> New Query Editor Window

To change the stored procedure, use ALTER PROCEDURE statement:

Alter Procedure spGetEmployeesByGenderAndDepartment
@Gender nvarchar(50),
@DepartmentId int
as
Begin
Select Name, Gender from tblEmployee Where Gender = @Gender and DepartmentId =
@DepartmentId order by Name
End

To encrypt the text of the SP, use WITH ENCRYPTION option. Once, encrypted, you cannot view the
text of the procedure, using sp_helptext system stored procedure. There are ways to obtain the original
text, which we will talk about in a later session.

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Alter Procedure spGetEmployeesByGenderAndDepartment

@Gender nvarchar(50),
@DepartmentId int
WITH ENCRYPTION
as
Begin
Select Name, Gender from tblEmployee Where Gender = @Gender and DepartmentId =
@DepartmentId
End

To delete the SP, use DROP PROC 'SPName' or DROP PROCEDURE 'SPName'

In the next seesion, we will learn creating stored procedures with OUTPUT parameters.

Stored procedures with output parameters - Part 19

In this video, we will learn about, creating stored procedures with output parameters. Please watch Part
18 of this video series, before watching this video.

To create an SP with output parameter, we use the keywords OUT or OUTPUT. @EmployeeCount is
an OUTPUT parameter. Notice, it is specified with OUTPUT keyword.
Create Procedure spGetEmployeeCountByGender
@Gender nvarchar(20),
@EmployeeCount int Output
as
Begin
Select @EmployeeCount = COUNT(Id)
from tblEmployee
where Gender = @Gender
End

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To execute this stored procedure with OUTPUT parameter

1. First initialise a variable of the same datatype as that of the output parameter. We have declared
@EmployeeTotal integer variable.
2. Then pass the @EmployeeTotal variable to the SP. You have to specify the OUTPUT keyword. If you
don't specify the OUTPUT keyword, the variable will be NULL.
3. Execute

Declare @EmployeeTotal int

Execute spGetEmployeeCountByGender 'Female', @EmployeeTotal output
Print @EmployeeTotal

If you don't specify the OUTPUT keyword, when executing the stored procedure, the @EmployeeTotal
variable will be NULL. Here, we have not specified OUTPUT keyword. When you execute, you will see
'@EmployeeTotal is null' printed.

Declare @EmployeeTotal int

Execute spGetEmployeeCountByGender 'Female', @EmployeeTotal
if(@EmployeeTotal is null)
Print '@EmployeeTotal is null'
else
Print '@EmployeeTotal is not null'

You can pass parameters in any order, when you use the parameter names. Here, we are first
passing the OUTPUT parameter and then the input @Gender parameter.

Declare @EmployeeTotal int

Execute spGetEmployeeCountByGender @EmployeeCount = @EmployeeTotal OUT, @Gender = 'Male'
Print @EmployeeTotal

The following system stored procedures, are extremely useful when working procedures.
sp_help SP_Name : View the information about the stored procedure, like parameter names, their
datatypes etc. sp_help can be used with any database object, like tables, views, SP's, triggers etc.
Alternatively, you can also press ALT+F1, when the name of the object is highlighted.

sp_helptext SP_Name : View the Text of the stored procedure

sp_depends SP_Name : View the dependencies of the stored procedure. This system SP is very useful,
especially if you want to check, if there are any stored procedures that are referencing a table that you
are abput to drop. sp_depends can also be used with other database objects like table etc.

Note: All parameter and variable names in SQL server, need to have the @symbol.

Stored procedure output parameters or return values - Part 20

In this video, we will
1. Understand what are stored procedure return values

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2. Difference between stored procedure return values and output parameters

3. When to use output parameters over return values

Before watching this video, please watch

Part 18 - Stored procedure basics in sql server
Part 19 - Stored procedures with output parameters

What are stored procedure status variables?

Whenever, you execute a stored procedure, it returns an integer status variable. Usually, zero indicates
success, and non-zero indicates failure. To see this yourself, execute any stored procedure from the
object explorer, in sql server management studio.
1. Right Click and select 'Execute Stored Procedure
2. If the procedure, expects parameters, provide the values and click OK.
3. Along with the result that you expect, the stored procedure, also returns a Return Value = 0

So, from this we understood that, when a stored procedure is executed, it returns an integer status
variable. With this in mind, let's understand the difference between output parameters and RETURN
values. We will use the Employees table below for this purpose.

The following procedure returns total number of employees in the Employees table, using output
parameter - @TotalCount.
Create Procedure spGetTotalCountOfEmployees1
@TotalCount int output
as
Begin
Select @TotalCount = COUNT(ID) from tblEmployee
End

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Executing spGetTotalCountOfEmployees1 returns 3.

Declare @TotalEmployees int
Execute spGetTotalCountOfEmployees @TotalEmployees Output
Select @TotalEmployees

Re-written stored procedure using return variables

Create Procedure spGetTotalCountOfEmployees2
as
Begin
return (Select COUNT(ID) from Employees)
End

Executing spGetTotalCountOfEmployees2 returns 3.

Declare @TotalEmployees int
Execute @TotalEmployees = spGetTotalCountOfEmployees2
Select @TotalEmployees

So, we are able to achieve what we want, using output parameters as well as return values. Now, let's
look at example, where return status variables cannot be used, but Output parameters can be used.

In this SP, we are retrieving the Name of the employee, based on their Id, using the output
parameter @Name.
Create Procedure spGetNameById1
@Id int,
@Name nvarchar(20) Output
as
Begin
Select @Name = Name from tblEmployee Where Id = @Id
End

Executing spGetNameById1, prints the name of the employee

Declare @EmployeeName nvarchar(20)
Execute spGetNameById1 3, @EmployeeName out
Print 'Name of the Employee = ' + @EmployeeName

Now let's try to achieve the same thing, using return status variables.
Create Procedure spGetNameById2
@Id int
as
Begin
Return (Select Name from tblEmployee Where Id = @Id)
End

Executing spGetNameById2 returns an error stating 'Conversion failed when converting the nvarchar
value 'Sam' to data type int.'. The return status variable is an integer, and hence, when we select Name of
an employee and try to return that we get a converion error.

Declare @EmployeeName nvarchar(20)

Execute @EmployeeName = spGetNameById2 1
Print 'Name of the Employee = ' + @EmployeeName

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So, using return values, we can only return integers, and that too, only one integer. It is not possible, to
return more than one value using return values, where as output parameters, can return any datatype and
an sp can have more than one output parameters. I always prefer, using output parameters, over
RETURN values.

In general, RETURN values are used to indicate success or failure of stored procedure, especially when
we are dealing with nested stored procedures.Return a value of 0, indicates success, and any nonzero
value indicates failure.

Difference between return values and output parameters

Advantages of using stored procedures - Part 21

Please watch Part 18 - Basics of Stored Procedures

The following advantages of using Stored Procedures over adhoc queries (inline SQL)
1. Execution plan retention and reusability - Stored Procedures are compiled and their execution plan
is cached and used again, when the same SP is executed again. Although adhoc queries also create and
reuse plan, the plan is reused only when the query is textual match and the datatypes are matching with
the previous call. Any change in the datatype or you have an extra space in the query then, a new plan is
created.

2. Reduces network traffic - You only need to send, EXECUTE SP_Name statement, over the network,
instead of the entire batch of adhoc SQL code.

3. Code reusability and better maintainability - A stored procedure can be reused with multiple
applications. If the logic has to change, we only have one place to change, where as if it is inline sql, and
if you have to use it in multiple applications, we end up with multiple copies of this inline sql. If the logic
has to change, we have to change at all the places, which makes it harder maintaining inline sql.

4. Better Security - A database user can be granted access to an SP and prevent them from executing
direct "select" statements against a table. This is fine grain access control which will help control what
data a user has access to.

5. Avoids SQL Injection attack - SP's prevent sql injection attack. Please watch this video on SQL
Injection Attack, for more information.

Built in string functions in sql server 2008 - Part 22

Functions in SQL server can be broadly divided into 2 categoris
1. Built-in functions
2. User Defined functions

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There are several built-in functions. In this video session, we will look at the most common string
functions available.

ASCII(Character_Expression) - Returns the ASCII code of the given character expression.

To find the ACII Code of capital letter 'A'

Example: Select ASCII('A')

Output: 65

CHAR(Integer_Expression) - Converts an int ASCII code to a character. The Integer_Expression, should

be between 0 and 255.
The following SQL, prints all the characters for the ASCII values from o thru 255

Declare @Number int

Set @Number = 1
While(@Number <= 255)
Begin
Print CHAR(@Number)
Set @Number = @Number + 1
End

Note: The while loop will become an infinite loop, if you forget to include the following line.
Set @Number = @Number + 1

Printing uppercase alphabets using CHAR() function:

Declare @Number int
Set @Number = 65
While(@Number <= 90)
Begin
Print CHAR(@Number)
Set @Number = @Number + 1
End

Printing lowercase alphabets using CHAR() function:

Declare @Number int
Set @Number = 97
While(@Number <= 122)
Begin
Print CHAR(@Number)
Set @Number = @Number + 1
End

Another way of printing lower case alphabets using CHAR() and LOWER() functions.
Declare @Number int
Set @Number = 65
While(@Number <= 90)
Begin
Print LOWER(CHAR(@Number))
Set @Number = @Number + 1

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End

LTRIM(Character_Expression) - Removes blanks on the left handside of the given character expression.

Example: Removing the 3 white spaces on the left hand side of the ' Hello' string using LTRIM()
function.
Select LTRIM(' Hello')
Output: Hello

RTRIM(Character_Expression) - Removes blanks on the right hand side of the given character
expression.

Example: Removing the 3 white spaces on the left hand side of the 'Hello ' string using RTRIM()
function.
Select RTRIM('Hello ')
Output: Hello

Example: To remove white spaces on either sides of the given character expression, use LTRIM() and
RTRIM() as shown below.
Select LTRIM(RTRIM(' Hello '))
Output: Hello

LOWER(Character_Expression) - Converts all the characters in the given Character_Expression, to

lowercase letters.

Example: Select LOWER('CONVERT This String Into Lower Case')

Output: convert this string into lower case

UPPER(Character_Expression) - Converts all the characters in the given Character_Expression, to

uppercase letters.
Example: Select UPPER('CONVERT This String Into upper Case')
Output: CONVERT THIS STRING INTO UPPER CASE

REVERSE('Any_String_Expression') - Reverses all the characters in the given string expression.

Example: Select REVERSE('ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ')
Output: ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

LEN(String_Expression) - Returns the count of total characters, in the given string expression, excluding
the blanks at the end of the expression.

Example: Select LEN('SQL Functions ')

Output: 13

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In the next video session, we will discuss about the rest of the commonly used built-in string functions.

LEFT, RIGHT, CHARINDEX and SUBSTRING functions - Part 23

In this video we will learn about the commonly used built-in string functions in SQL server and finally, a
real time example of using string functions. Please watch the following videos, before continuing with this
video.
Part 11 – Group By
Part 22 – Built in string functions

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LEFT(Character_Expression, Integer_Expression) - Returns the specified number of characters from the

left hand side of the given character expression.

Example: Select LEFT('ABCDE', 3)

Output: ABC

RIGHT(Character_Expression, Integer_Expression) - Returns the specified number of characters from the

right hand side of the given character expression.

Example: Select RIGHT('ABCDE', 3)

Output: CDE

CHARINDEX('Expression_To_Find', 'Expression_To_Search', 'Start_Location') - Returns the starting

position of the specified expression in a character string. Start_Location parameter is optional.

Example: In this example, we get the starting position of '@' character in the email string
'[email protected]'.
Select CHARINDEX('@','[email protected]',1)
Output: 5

SUBSTRING('Expression', 'Start', 'Length') - As the name, suggests, this function returns substring (part
of the string), from the given expression. You specify the starting location using the 'start' parameter and
the number of characters in the substring using 'Length' parameter. All the 3 parameters are mandatory.

Example: Display just the domain part of the given email '[email protected]'.
Select SUBSTRING('[email protected]',6, 7)
Output: bbb.com

In the above example, we have hardcoded the starting position and the length parameters. Instead of
hardcoding we can dynamically retrieve them using CHARINDEX() and LEN() string functions as shown
below.

Example:
Select SUBSTRING('[email protected]',(CHARINDEX('@', '[email protected]') + 1), (LEN('[email protected]') -
CHARINDEX('@','[email protected]')))
Output: bbb.com

Real time example, where we can use LEN(), CHARINDEX() and SUBSTRING() functions. Let us
assume we have table as shown below.

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Write a query to find out total number of emails, by domain. The result of the query should be as shown
below.

Query
Select SUBSTRING(Email, CHARINDEX('@', Email) + 1,
LEN(Email) - CHARINDEX('@', Email)) as EmailDomain,
COUNT(Email) as Total
from tblEmployee
Group By SUBSTRING(Email, CHARINDEX('@', Email) + 1,
LEN(Email) - CHARINDEX('@', Email))

Replicate, Space, Patindex, Replace and Stuff functions - Part 24

Before watching this video, please watch
Part 22 – Built in string functions in sql server
Part 23 – Left, Right, CharIndex and Substring functions

REPLICATE(String_To_Be_Replicated, Number_Of_Times_To_Replicate) - Repeats the given string,

for the specified number of times.

Example: SELECT REPLICATE('Pragim', 3)

Output: Pragim Pragim Pragim

A practical example of using REPLICATE() function: We will be using this table, for the rest of our
examples in this article.

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Let's mask the email with 5 * (star) symbols. The output should be as shown below.

Query:
Select FirstName, LastName, SUBSTRING(Email, 1, 2) + REPLICATE('*',5) +
SUBSTRING(Email, CHARINDEX('@',Email), LEN(Email) - CHARINDEX('@',Email)+1) as Email
from tblEmployee

SPACE(Number_Of_Spaces) - Returns number of spaces, specified by the Number_Of_Spaces

argument.

Example: The SPACE(5) function, inserts 5 spaces between FirstName and LastName
Select FirstName + SPACE(5) + LastName as FullName
From tblEmployee

Output:

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PATINDEX('%Pattern%', Expression)
Returns the starting position of the first occurrence of a pattern in a specified expression. It takes two
arguments, the pattern to be searched and the expression. PATINDEX() is simial to CHARINDEX(). With
CHARINDEX() we cannot use wildcards, where as PATINDEX() provides this capability. If the specified
pattern is not found, PATINDEX() returns ZERO.

Example:
Select Email, PATINDEX('%@aaa.com', Email) as FirstOccurence
from tblEmployee
Where PATINDEX('%@aaa.com', Email) > 0

Output:

REPLACE(String_Expression, Pattern , Replacement_Value)

Replaces all occurrences of a specified string value with another string value.

Example: All .COM strings are replaced with .NET

Select Email, REPLACE(Email, '.com', '.net') as ConvertedEmail
from tblEmployee

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STUFF(Original_Expression, Start, Length, Replacement_expression)

STUFF() function inserts Replacement_expression, at the start position specified, along with removing the
charactes specified using Length parameter.

Example:
Select FirstName, LastName,Email, STUFF(Email, 2, 3, '*****') as StuffedEmail
From tblEmployee

DateTime functions in SQL Server - Part 25

In this video session we will learn about
1. DateTime data types
2. DateTime functions available to select the current system date and time
3. Understanding concepts - UTC time and Time Zone offset

There are several built-in DateTime functions available in SQL Server. All the following functions can be
used to get the current system date and time, where you have sql server installed.

Function Date Time Format Description

GETDATE() 2012-08-31 20:15:04.543 Commonly used function
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP 2012-08-31 20:15:04.543 ANSI SQL equivalent to GETDATE
SYSDATETIME() 2012-08-31 20:15:04.5380028 More fractional seconds precision
2012-08-31 20:15:04.5380028 More fractional seconds precision + Time
SYSDATETIMEOFFSET()
+ 01:00 zone offset
GETUTCDATE() 2012-08-31 19:15:04.543 UTC Date and Time
UTC Date and Time, with More fractional
SYSUTCDATETIME() 2012-08-31 19:15:04.5380028
seconds precision

Note: UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time, based on which, the world regulates clocks and
time. There are slight differences between GMT and UTC, but for most common purposes, UTC is

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synonymous with GMT.

To practically understand how the different date time datatypes available in SQL Server, store data,
create the sample table tblDateTime.
CREATE TABLE [tblDateTime]
(
[c_time] [time](7) NULL,
[c_date] [date] NULL,
[c_smalldatetime] [smalldatetime] NULL,
[c_datetime] [datetime] NULL,
[c_datetime2] [datetime2](7) NULL,
[c_datetimeoffset] [datetimeoffset](7) NULL
)

To Insert some sample data, execute the following query.

INSERT INTO tblDateTime VALUES
(GETDATE(),GETDATE(),GETDATE(),GETDATE(),GETDATE(),GETDATE())

Now, issue a select statement, and you should see, the different types of datetime datatypes, storing the
current datetime, in different formats.

Output:

IsDate, Day, Month, Year and DateName DateTime functions in SQL Server - Part 26
ISDATE() - Checks if the given value, is a valid date, time, or datetime. Returns 1 for success, 0 for
failure.

Examples:
Select ISDATE('PRAGIM') -- returns 0
Select ISDATE(Getdate()) -- returns 1
Select ISDATE('2012-08-31 21:02:04.167') -- returns 1

Note: For datetime2 values, IsDate returns ZERO.

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Example:
Select ISDATE('2012-09-01 11:34:21.1918447') -- returns 0.

Day() - Returns the 'Day number of the Month' of the given date

Examples:
Select DAY(GETDATE()) -- Returns the day number of the month, based on current system datetime.
Select DAY('01/31/2012') -- Returns 31

Month() - Returns the 'Month number of the year' of the given date

Examples:
Select Month(GETDATE()) -- Returns the Month number of the year, based on the current system date
and time
Select Month('01/31/2012') -- Returns 1

Year() - Returns the 'Year number' of the given date

Examples:
Select Year(GETDATE()) -- Returns the year number, based on the current system date
Select Year('01/31/2012') -- Returns 2012

DateName(DatePart, Date) - Returns a string, that represents a part of the given date. This functions
takes 2 parameters. The first parameter 'DatePart' specifies, the part of the date, we want. The second
parameter, is the actual date, from which we want the part of the Date.

Valid Datepart parameter values

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Examples:
Select DATENAME(Day, '2012-09-30 12:43:46.837') -- Returns 30
Select DATENAME(WEEKDAY, '2012-09-30 12:43:46.837') -- Returns Sunday
Select DATENAME(MONTH, '2012-09-30 12:43:46.837') -- Returns September

A simple practical example using some of these DateTime functions. Consider the table tblEmployees.

Write a query, which returns Name, DateOfBirth, Day, MonthNumber, MonthName, and Year as shown
below.

Query:
Select Name, DateOfBirth, DateName(WEEKDAY,DateOfBirth) as [Day],

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Month(DateOfBirth) as MonthNumber,
DateName(MONTH, DateOfBirth) as [MonthName],
Year(DateOfBirth) as [Year]
From tblEmployees

DatePart, DateAdd and DateDiff functions in SQL Server - Part 27

DatePart(DatePart, Date) - Returns an integer representing the specified DatePart. This function is
simialar to DateName(). DateName() returns nvarchar, where as DatePart() returns an integer. The valid
DatePart parameter values are shown below.

Examples:
Select DATEPART(weekday, '2012-08-30 19:45:31.793') -- returns 5
Select DATENAME(weekday, '2012-08-30 19:45:31.793') -- returns Thursday

DATEADD (datepart, NumberToAdd, date) - Returns the DateTime, after adding specified
NumberToAdd, to the datepart specified of the given date.

Examples:
Select DateAdd(DAY, 20, '2012-08-30 19:45:31.793')
-- Returns 2012-09-19 19:45:31.793
Select DateAdd(DAY, -20, '2012-08-30 19:45:31.793')
-- Returns 2012-08-10 19:45:31.793

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DATEDIFF(datepart, startdate, enddate) - Returns the count of the specified datepart boundaries crossed
between the specified startdate and enddate.

Examples:
Select DATEDIFF(MONTH, '11/30/2005','01/31/2006') -- returns 2
Select DATEDIFF(DAY, '11/30/2005','01/31/2006') -- returns 62

Consider the emaployees table below.

Write a query to compute the age of a person, when the date of birth is given. The output should be as
shown below.

CREATE FUNCTION fnComputeAge(@DOB DATETIME)

RETURNS NVARCHAR(50)
AS
BEGIN

DECLARE @tempdate DATETIME, @years INT, @months INT, @days INT

SELECT @tempdate = @DOB

SELECT @years = DATEDIFF(YEAR, @tempdate, GETDATE()) - CASE WHEN (MONTH(@DOB) >

MONTH(GETDATE())) OR (MONTH(@DOB) = MONTH(GETDATE()) AND DAY(@DOB) >
DAY(GETDATE())) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
SELECT @tempdate = DATEADD(YEAR, @years, @tempdate)

SELECT @months = DATEDIFF(MONTH, @tempdate, GETDATE()) - CASE WHEN DAY(@DOB) >

DAY(GETDATE()) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
SELECT @tempdate = DATEADD(MONTH, @months, @tempdate)

SELECT @days = DATEDIFF(DAY, @tempdate, GETDATE())

DECLARE @Age NVARCHAR(50)

SET @Age = Cast(@years AS NVARCHAR(4)) + ' Years ' + Cast(@months AS NVARCHAR(2))+ '
Months ' + Cast(@days AS NVARCHAR(2))+ ' Days Old'
RETURN @Age

End

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Using the function in a query to get the expected output along with the age of the person.
Select Id, Name, DateOfBirth, dbo.fnComputeAge(DateOfBirth) as Age from tblEmployees

Cast and Convert functions in SQL Server - Part 28

To convert one data type to another, CAST and CONVERT functions can be used.

Syntax of CAST and CONVERT functions from MSDN:

CAST ( expression AS data_type [ ( length ) ] )
CONVERT ( data_type [ ( length ) ] , expression [ , style ] )

From the syntax, it is clear that CONVERT() function has an optional style parameter, where as CAST()
function lacks this capability.

Consider the Employees Table below

The following 2 queries convert, DateOfBirth's DateTime datatype to NVARCHAR. The first query uses
the CAST() function, and the second one uses CONVERT() function. The output is exactly the same for
both the queries as shown below.
Select Id, Name, DateOfBirth, CAST(DateofBirth as nvarchar) as ConvertedDOB
from tblEmployees
Select Id, Name, DateOfBirth, Convert(nvarchar, DateOfBirth) as ConvertedDOB
from tblEmployees

Output:

Now, let's use the style parameter of the CONVERT() function, to format the Date as we would like it. In
the query below, we are using 103 as the argument for style parameter, which formats the date as
dd/mm/yyyy.
Select Id, Name, DateOfBirth, Convert(nvarchar, DateOfBirth, 103) as ConvertedDOB
from tblEmployees

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Output:

The following table lists a few of the common DateTime styles:

For complete list of all the Date and Time Styles, please check MSDN.

To get just the date part, from DateTime

SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10),GETDATE(),101)

In SQL Server 2008, Date datatype is introduced, so you can also use
SELECT CAST(GETDATE() as DATE)
SELECT CONVERT(DATE, GETDATE())

Note: To control the formatting of the Date part, DateTime has to be converted to NVARCHAR using the
styles provided. When converting to DATE data type, the CONVERT() function will ignore the style
parameter.

Now, let's write a query which produces the following output:

In this query, we are using CAST() function, to convert Id (int) to nvarchar, so it can be appended with
the NAME column. If you remove the CAST() function, you will get an error stating - 'Conversion failed
when converting the nvarchar value 'Sam - ' to data type int.'
Select Id, Name, Name + ' - ' + CAST(Id AS NVARCHAR) AS [Name-Id]
FROM tblEmployees

Now let's look at a practical example of using CAST function. Consider the registrations table below.

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Write a query which returns the total number of registrations by day

Query:
Select CAST(RegisteredDate as DATE) as RegistrationDate,
COUNT(Id) as TotalRegistrations
From tblRegistrations
Group By CAST(RegisteredDate as DATE)

The following are the differences between the 2 functions.

1. Cast is based on ANSI standard and Convert is specific to SQL Server. So, if portability is a concern
and if you want to use the script with other database applications, use Cast().
2. Convert provides more flexibility than Cast. For example, it's possible to control how you want
DateTime datatypes to be converted using styles with convert function.

The general guideline is to use CAST(), unless you want to take advantage of the style functionality in
CONVERT().

Mathematical functions in sql server - Part 29

In this video session, we will understand the commonly used mathematical functions in sql server like,
Abs, Ceiling, Floor, Power, Rand, Square, Sqrt, and Round functions

ABS ( numeric_expression ) - ABS stands for absolute and returns, the absolute (positive) number.

For example, Select ABS(-101.5) -- returns 101.5, without the - sign.

CEILING ( numeric_expression ) and FLOOR ( numeric_expression )

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CEILING and FLOOR functions accept a numeric expression as a single parameter. CEILING() returns
the smallest integer value greater than or equal to the parameter, whereas FLOOR() returns the largest
integer less than or equal to the parameter.

Examples:
Select CEILING(15.2) -- Returns 16
Select CEILING(-15.2) -- Returns -15

Select FLOOR(15.2) -- Returns 15

Select FLOOR(-15.2) -- Returns -16

Power(expression, power) - Returns the power value of the specified expression to the specified power.

Example: The following example calculates '2 TO THE POWER OF 3' = 2*2*2 = 8
Select POWER(2,3) -- Returns 8

RAND([Seed_Value]) - Returns a random float number between 0 and 1. Rand() function takes an
optional seed parameter. When seed value is supplied the

RADN() function always returns the same value for the same seed.

Example:
Select RAND(1) -- Always returns the same value

If you want to generate a random number between 1 and 100, RAND() and FLOOR() functions can be
used as shown below. Every time, you execute this query, you get a random number between 1 and 100.
Select FLOOR(RAND() * 100)

The following query prints 10 random numbers between 1 and 100.

Declare @Counter INT
Set @Counter = 1
While(@Counter <= 10)
Begin
Print FLOOR(RAND() * 100)
Set @Counter = @Counter + 1
End

SQUARE ( Number ) - Returns the square of the given number.

Example:
Select SQUARE(9) -- Returns 81

SQRT ( Number ) - SQRT stands for Square Root. This function returns the square root of the given
value.

Example:
Select SQRT(81) -- Returns 9

ROUND ( numeric_expression , length [ ,function ] ) - Rounds the given numeric expression based on
the given length. This function takes 3 parameters.
1. Numeric_Expression is the number that we want to round.
2. Length parameter, specifies the number of the digits that we want to round to. If the length is a
positive number, then the rounding is applied for the decimal part, where as if the length is negative, then
the rounding is applied to the number before the decimal.
3. The optional function parameter, is used to indicate rounding or truncation operations. A value of 0,
indicates rounding, where as a value of non zero indicates truncation. Default, if not specified is 0.

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Examples:
-- Round to 2 places after (to the right) the decimal point
Select ROUND(850.556, 2) -- Returns 850.560

-- Truncate anything after 2 places, after (to the right) the decimal point
Select ROUND(850.556, 2, 1) -- Returns 850.550

-- Round to 1 place after (to the right) the decimal point

Select ROUND(850.556, 1) -- Returns 850.600

-- Truncate anything after 1 place, after (to the right) the decimal point
Select ROUND(850.556, 1, 1) -- Returns 850.500

-- Round the last 2 places before (to the left) the decimal point
Select ROUND(850.556, -2) -- 900.000

-- Round the last 1 place before (to the left) the decimal point
Select ROUND(850.556, -1) -- 850.000

Scalar User Defined Functions in sql server - Part 30

From Parts 22 to 29, we have learnt how to use many of the built-in system functions that are available in
SQL Server. In this session, we will turn our attention, to creating user defined functions. In short UDF.

We will cover
1. User Defined Functions in sql server
2. Types of User Defined Functions
3. Creating a Scalar User Defined Function
4. Calling a Scalar User Defined Function
5. Places where we can use Scalar User Defined Function
6. Altering and Dropping a User Defined Function

In SQL Server there are 3 types of User Defined functions

1. Scalar functions
2. Inline table-valued functions
3. Multistatement table-valued functions

Scalar functions may or may not have parameters, but always return a single (scalar) value. The
returned value can be of any data type, except text, ntext, image, cursor, and timestamp.

To create a function, we use the following syntax:

CREATE FUNCTION Function_Name(@Parameter1 DataType, @Parameter2 DataType,..@Parametern
Datatype)
RETURNS Return_Datatype
AS
BEGIN
Function Body
Return Return_Datatype

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END

Let us now create a function which calculates and returns the age of a person. To compute the age we
require, date of birth. So, let's pass date of birth as a parameter. So, AGE() function returns an integer
and accepts date parameter.
CREATE FUNCTION Age(@DOB Date)
RETURNS INT
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @Age INT
SET @Age = DATEDIFF(YEAR, @DOB, GETDATE()) - CASE WHEN (MONTH(@DOB) >
MONTH(GETDATE())) OR (MONTH(@DOB) = MONTH(GETDATE()) AND DAY(@DOB) >
DAY(GETDATE())) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
RETURN @Age
END

When calling a scalar user-defined function, you must supply a two-part name,
OwnerName.FunctionName. dbo stands for database owner.
Select dbo.Age( dbo.Age('10/08/1982')

You can also invoke it using the complete 3 part name, DatabaseName.OwnerName.FunctionName.
Select SampleDB.dbo.Age('10/08/1982')

Consider the Employees table below.

Scalar user defined functions can be used in the Select clause as shown below.
Select Name, DateOfBirth, dbo.Age(DateOfBirth) as Age from tblEmployees

Scalar user defined functions can be used in the Where clause, as shown below.
Select Name, DateOfBirth, dbo.Age(DateOfBirth) as Age
from tblEmployees
Where dbo.Age(DateOfBirth) > 30

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A stored procedure also can accept DateOfBirth and return Age, but you cannot use stored procedures
in a select or where clause. This is just one difference between a function and a stored procedure.
There are several other differences, which we will talk about in a later session.

To alter a function we use ALTER FUNCTION FuncationName statement and to delete it, we use DROP
FUNCTION FuncationName.

To view the text of the function use sp_helptext FunctionName

Inline table valued functions - Part 31

In Part 30 of this video series we have seen how to create and call 'scalar user defined functions'. In
this part of the video series, we will learn about 'Inline Table Valued Functions'.

From Part 30, We learnt that, a scalar function, returns a single value. on the other hand, an Inline Table
Valued function, return a table.

Syntax for creating an inline table valued function

CREATE FUNCTION Function_Name(@Param1 DataType, @Param2 DataType..., @ParamN
DataType)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN (Select_Statement)

Consider this Employees table shown below, which we will be using for our example.

Create a function that returns EMPLOYEES by GENDER.

CREATE FUNCTION fn_EmployeesByGender(@Gender nvarchar(10))
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN (Select Id, Name, DateOfBirth, Gender, DepartmentId
from tblEmployees
where Gender = @Gender)

If you look at the way we implemented this function, it is very similar to SCALAR function, with the
following differences
1. We specify TABLE as the return type, instead of any scalar data type

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2. The function body is not enclosed between BEGIN and END block. Inline table valued function body,
cannot have BEGIN and END block.
3. The structure of the table that gets returned, is determined by the SELECT statement with in the
function.

Calling the user defined function

Select * from fn_EmployeesByGender('Male')

Output:

As the inline user defined function, is returning a table, issue the select statement against the function, as
if you are selecting the data from a TABLE.

Where can we use Inline Table Valued functions

1. Inline Table Valued functions can be used to achieve the functionality of parameterized views. We will
talk about views, in a later session.
2. The table returned by the table valued function, can also be used in joins with other tables.

Consider the Departments Table

Joining the Employees returned by the function, with the Departments table
Select Name, Gender, DepartmentName
from fn_EmployeesByGender('Male') E
Join tblDepartment D on D.Id = E.DepartmentId

Executing the above query should produce the following output

New to joins in sql server. Please check the videos below

Part 12 - Basic Joins
Part 13 - Advanced Joins
Part 14 - Self Joins

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Multi-Statement Table Valued Functions in SQL Server - Part 32

We have discussed about scalar functions in Part 29 and Inline Table Valued functions in Part 30. In
this video session, we will discuss about Multi-Statement Table Valued functions.

Multi statement table valued functions are very similar to Inline Table valued functions, with a few
differences. Let's look at an example, and then note the differences.

Employees Table:

Let's write an Inline and multi-statement Table Valued functions that can return the output shown
below.

Inline Table Valued function(ILTVF):

Create Function fn_ILTVF_GetEmployees()
Returns Table
as
Return (Select Id, Name, Cast(DateOfBirth as Date) as DOB
From tblEmployees)

Multi-statement Table Valued function(MSTVF):

Create Function fn_MSTVF_GetEmployees()
Returns @Table Table (Id int, Name nvarchar(20), DOB Date)
as
Begin
Insert into @Table
Select Id, Name, Cast(DateOfBirth as Date)

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From tblEmployees

Return
End

Calling the Inline Table Valued Function:

Select * from fn_ILTVF_GetEmployees()

Calling the Multi-statement Table Valued Function:

Select * from fn_MSTVF_GetEmployees()

Now let's understand the differences between Inline Table Valued functions and Multi-statement
Table Valued functions
1. In an Inline Table Valued function, the RETURNS clause cannot contain the structure of the table, the
function returns. Where as, with the multi-statement table valued function, we specify the structure of the
table that gets returned
2. Inline Table Valued function cannot have BEGIN and END block, where as the multi-statement function
can have.
3. Inline Table valued functions are better for performance, than multi-statement table valued functions. If
the given task, can be achieved using an inline table valued function, always prefer to use them, over
multi-statement table valued functions.
4. It's possible to update the underlying table, using an inline table valued function, but not possible using
multi-statement table valued function.

Updating the underlying table using inline table valued function:

This query will change Sam to Sam1, in the underlying table tblEmployees. When you try do the same
thing with the multi-statement table valued function, you will get an error stating 'Object
'fn_MSTVF_GetEmployees' cannot be modified.'
Update fn_ILTVF_GetEmployees() set Name='Sam1' Where Id = 1

Reason for improved performance of an inline table valued function:

Internally, SQL Server treats an inline table valued function much like it would a view and treats a multi-
statement table valued function similar to how it would a stored procedure.

Important concepts related to Functions in sql server - Part 33

All these concepts are asked in many interviews. Please watch the Parts 30, 31 and 32.
Scalar User Defined Functions - Part 30
Inline table valued functions - Part 31
Multi-Statement Table Valued Functions - Part 32

Deterministic and Nondeterministic Functions:

Deterministic functions always return the same result any time they are called with a specific set of input
values and given the same state of the database.
Examples: Sum(), AVG(), Square(), Power() and Count()

Note: All aggregate functions are deterministic functions.

Nondeterministic functions may return different results each time they are called with a specific set of
input values even if the database state that they access remains the same.
Examples: GetDate() and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

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Rand() function is a Non-deterministic function, but if you provide the seed value, the function
becomes deterministic, as the same value gets returned for the same seed value.

We will be using tblEmployees table, for the rest of our examples. Please, create the table using this
script.
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[tblEmployees]
(
[Id] [int] Primary Key,
[Name] [nvarchar](50) NULL,
[DateOfBirth] [datetime] NULL,
[Gender] [nvarchar](10) NULL,
[DepartmentId] [int] NULL
)

Insert rows into the table using the insert script below.
Insert into tblEmployees values(1,'Sam','1980-12-30 00:00:00.000','Male',1)
Insert into tblEmployees values(2,'Pam','1982-09-01 12:02:36.260','Female',2)
Insert into tblEmployees values(3,'John','1985-08-22 12:03:30.370','Male',1)
Insert into tblEmployees values(4,'Sara','1979-11-29 12:59:30.670','Female',3)
Insert into tblEmployees values(5,'Todd','1978-11-29 12:59:30.670','Male',1)

Encrypting a function definiton using WITH ENCRYPTION OPTION:

We have learnt how to encrypt Stored procedure text using WITH ENCRYPTION OPTION in Part 18 of
this video series. Along the same lines, you can also encrypt a function text. Once, encrypted, you
cannot view the text of the function, using sp_helptext system stored procedure. If you try to, you will get
a message stating 'The text for object is encrypted.' There are ways to decrypt, which is beyond the
scope of this video.

Scalar Function without encryption option:

Create Function fn_GetEmployeeNameById(@Id int)
Returns nvarchar(20)
as
Begin
Return (Select Name from tblEmployees Where Id = @Id)
End

To view text of the function:

sp_helptex fn_GetEmployeeNameById

Now, let's alter the function to use WITH ENCRYPTION OPTION

Alter Function fn_GetEmployeeNameById(@Id int)
Returns nvarchar(20)
With Encryption
as

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Begin
Return (Select Name from tblEmployees Where Id = @Id)
End

Now try to retrieve, the text of the function, using sp_helptex fn_GetEmployeeNameById. You will
get a message stating 'The text for object 'fn_GetEmployeeNameById' is encrypted.'

Creating a function WITH SCHEMABINDING option:

1. The function fn_GetEmployeeNameById(), is dependent on tblEmployees table.
2. Delete the table tblEmployees from the database.
Drop Table tblEmployees
3. Now, execute the function fn_GetEmployeeNameById(), you will get an error stating 'Invalid object
name tblEmployees'. So, we are able to delete the table, while the function is still refrencing it.
4. Now, recreate the table and insert data, using the scripts provided.
5. Next, Alter the function fn_GetEmployeeNameById(), to use WITH SCHEMABINDING option.
Alter Function fn_GetEmployeeNameById(@Id int)
Returns nvarchar(20)
With SchemaBinding
as
Begin
Return (Select Name from dbo.tblEmployees Where Id = @Id)
End

Note: You have to use the 2 part object name i.e, dbo.tblEmployees, to use WITH SCHEMABINDING
option. dbo is the schema name or owner name, tblEmployees is the table name.
6. Now, try to drop the table using - Drop Table tblEmployees. You will get a message stating, 'Cannot
DROP TABLE tblEmployees because it is being referenced by object fn_GetEmployeeNameById.'

So, Schemabinding, specifies that the function is bound to the database objects that it references. When
SCHEMABINDING is specified, the base objects cannot be modified in any way that would affect the
function definition. The function definition itself must first be modified or dropped to remove dependencies
on the object that is to be modified.

Temporary tables in SQL Server - Part 34

What are Temporary tables?
Temporary tables, are very similar to the permanent tables. Permanent tables get created in the database
you specify, and remain in the database permanently, until you delete (drop) them. On the other hand,
temporary tables get created in the TempDB and are automatically deleted, when they are no longer
used.

Different Types of Temporary tables

In SQL Server, there are 2 types of Temporary tables - Local Temporary tables and Global Temporary
tables.

How to Create a Local Temporary Table:

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Creating a local Temporary table is very similar to creating a permanent table, except that you prefix the
table name with 1 pound (#) symbol. In the example below, #PersonDetails is a local temporary table,
with Id and Name columns.
Create Table #PersonDetails(Id int, Name nvarchar(20))

Insert Data into the temporary table:

Insert into #PersonDetails Values(1, 'Mike')
Insert into #PersonDetails Values(2, 'John')
Insert into #PersonDetails Values(3, 'Todd')

Select the data from the temporary table:

Select * from #PersonDetails

How to check if the local temporary table is created

Temporary tables are created in the TEMPDB. Query the sysobjects system table in TEMPDB. The name
of the table, is suffixed with lot of underscores and a random number. For this reason you have to use the
LIKE operator in the query.
Select name from tempdb..sysobjects
where name like '#PersonDetails%'

You can also check the existence of temporary tables using object explorer. In the object explorer,
expand TEMPDB database folder, and then exapand TEMPORARY TABLES folder, and you should see
the temporary table that we have created.

A local temporary table is available, only for the connection that has created the table. If you open
another query window, and execute the following query you get an error stating 'Invalid object name
#PersonDetails'. This proves that local temporary tables are available, only for the connection that has
created them.

A local temporary table is automatically dropped, when the connection that has created the it, is
closed. If the user wants to explicitly drop the temporary table, he can do so using
DROP TABLE #PersonDetails

If the temporary table, is created inside the stored procedure, it get's dropped automatically upon the
completion of stored procedure execution. The stored procedure below, creates #PersonDetails
temporary table, populates it and then finally returns the data and destroys the temporary
table immediately after the completion of the stored procedure execution.
Create Procedure spCreateLocalTempTable
as
Begin
Create Table #PersonDetails(Id int, Name nvarchar(20))

Insert into #PersonDetails Values(1, 'Mike')

Insert into #PersonDetails Values(2, 'John')
Insert into #PersonDetails Values(3, 'Todd')

Select * from #PersonDetails

End

It is also possible for different connections, to create a local temporary table with the same name. For
example User1 and User2, both can create a local temporary table with the same name #PersonDetails.
Now, if you expand the Temporary Tables folder in the TEMPDB database, you should see 2 tables with
name #PersonDetails and some random number at the end of the name. To differentiate between, the
User1 and User2 local temp tables, sql server appends the random number at the end of the temp table
name.

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How to Create a Global Temporary Table:

To create a Global Temporary Table, prefix the name of the table with 2 pound (##) symbols.
EmployeeDetails Table is the global temporary table, as we have prefixed it with 2 ## symbols.
Create Table ##EmployeeDetails(Id int, Name nvarchar(20))

Global temporary tables are visible to all the connections of the sql server, and are only destroyed
when the last connection referencing the table is closed.

Multiple users, across multiple connections can have local temporary tables with the same name, but,
a global temporary table name has to be unique, and if you inspect the name of the global temp table, in
the object explorer, there will be no random numbers suffixed at the end of the table name.

Difference Between Local and Global Temporary Tables:

1. Local Temp tables are prefixed with single pound (#) symbol, where as gloabl temp tables are prefixed
with 2 pound (##) symbols.

2. SQL Server appends some random numbers at the end of the local temp table name, where this is not
done for global temp table names.

3. Local temporary tables are only visible to that session of the SQL Server which has created it, where
as Global temporary tables are visible to all the SQL server sessions

4. Local temporary tables are automatically dropped, when the session that created the temporary tables
is closed, where as Global temporary tables are destroyed when the last connection that is referencing
the global temp table is closed.

Indexes in sql server - Part 35

Why indexes?
Indexes are used by queries to find data from tables quickly. Indexes are created on tables and views.
Index on a table or a view, is very similar to an index that we find in a book.

If you don't have an index in a book, and I ask you to locate a specific chapter in that book, you will have
to look at every page starting from the first page of the book.

On, the other hand, if you have the index, you lookup the page number of the chapter in the index,
and then directly go to that page number to locate the chapter.

Obviously, the book index is helping to drastically reduce the time it takes to find the chapter.

In a similar way, Table and View indexes, can help the query to find data quickly.

In fact, the existence of the right indexes, can drastically improve the performance of the query. If there is
no index to help the query, then the query engine, checks every row in the table from the beginning to the
end. This is called as Table Scan. Table scan is bad for performance.

Index Example: At the moment, the Employees table, does not have an index on SALARY column.

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Consider, the following query

Select * from tblEmployee where Salary > 5000 and Salary < 7000

To find all the employees, who has salary greater than 5000 and less than 7000, the query engine has
to check each and every row in the table, resulting in a table scan, which can adversely affect the
performance, especially if the table is large. Since there is no index, to help the query, the query engine
performs an entire table scan.

Now Let's Create the Index to help the query:Here, we are creating an index on Salary column in the
employee table
CREATE Index IX_tblEmployee_Salary
ON tblEmployee (SALARY ASC)

The index stores salary of each employee, in the ascending order as shown below. The actual index
may look slightly different.

Now, when the SQL server has to execute the same query, it has an index on the salary column to
help this query. Salaries between the range of 5000 and 7000 are usually present at the bottom, since the
salaries are arranged in an ascending order. SQL server picks up the row addresses from the index and
directly fetch the records from the table, rather than scanning each row in the table. This is called as
Index Seek.

An Index can also be created graphically using SQL Server Management Studio
1. In the Object Explorer, expand the Databases folder and then specific database you are working with.
2. Expand the Tables folder
3. Expand the Table on which you want to create the index
4. Right click on the Indexes folder and select New Index
5. In the New Index dialog box, type in a meaningful name
6. Select the Index Type and specify Unique or Non Unique Index
7. Click the Add
8. Select the columns that you want to add as index key
9 Click OK
10. Save the table

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To view the Indexes: In the object explorer, expand Indexes folder. Alternatively use sp_helptext system
stored procedure. The following command query returns all the indexes on tblEmployee table.
Execute sp_helptext tblEmployee

To delete or drop the index: When dropping an index, specify the table name as well
Drop Index tblEmployee.IX_tblEmployee_Salary

Clustered and Non-Clustered indexes - Part 36

Please watch Part 35 - Indexes in SQL Server, before continuing with this session

The following are the different types of indexes in SQL Server

1. Clustered
2. Nonclustered
3. Unique
4. Filtered
5. XML
6. Full Text
7. Spatial
8. Columnstore
9. Index with included columns
10. Index on computed columns

In this video session, we will talk about Clustered and Non-Clustered indexes.

Clustered Index:
A clustered index determines the physical order of data in a table. For this reason, a table can have only
one clustered index.

Create tblEmployees table using the script below.

CREATE TABLE [tblEmployee]
(
[Id] int Primary Key,
[Name] nvarchar(50),
[Salary] int,
[Gender] nvarchar(10),
[City] nvarchar(50)
)

Note that Id column is marked as primary key. Primary key, constraint create clustered indexes
automatically if no clustered index already exists on the table and a nonclustered index is not specified
when you create the PRIMARY KEY constraint.

To confirm this, execute sp_helpindex tblEmployee, which will show a unique clustered index created on
the Id column.

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Now execute the following insert queries. Note that, the values for Id column are not in a sequential
order.
Insert into tblEmployee Values(3,'John',4500,'Male','New York')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(1,'Sam',2500,'Male','London')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(4,'Sara',5500,'Female','Tokyo')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(5,'Todd',3100,'Male','Toronto')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(2,'Pam',6500,'Female','Sydney')

Execute the following SELECT query

Select * from tblEmployee

Inspite, of inserting the rows in a random order, when we execute the select query we can see that all
the rows in the table are arranged in an ascending order based on the Id column. This is because a
clustered index determines the physical order of data in a table, and we have got a clustered index on the
Id column.

Because of the fact that, a clustered index dictates the physical storage order of the data in a table,
a table can contain only one clustered index. If you take the example of tblEmployee table, the data is
already arranged by the Id column, and if we try to create another clustered index on the Name column,
the data needs to be rearranged based on the NAME column, which will affect the ordering of rows that's
already done based on the ID column.

For this reason, SQL server doesn't allow us to create more than one clustered index per table. The
following SQL script, raises an error stating 'Cannot create more than one clustered index on table
'tblEmployee'. Drop the existing clustered index PK__tblEmplo__3214EC0706CD04F7 before creating
another.'
Create Clustered Index IX_tblEmployee_Name
ON tblEmployee(Name)

A clustered index is analogous to a telephone directory, where the data is arranged by the last name.
We just learnt that, a table can have only one clustered index. However, the index can contain multiple
columns (a composite index), like the way a telephone directory is organized by last name and first name.

Let's now create a clustered index on 2 columns. To do this we first have to drop the existing
clustered index on the Id column.
Drop index tblEmployee.PK__tblEmplo__3214EC070A9D95DB

When you execute this query, you get an error message stating 'An explicit DROP INDEX is not
allowed on index 'tblEmployee.PK__tblEmplo__3214EC070A9D95DB'. It is being used for PRIMARY
KEY constraint enforcement.' We will talk about the role of unique index in the next session. To
successfully delete the clustered index, right click on the index in the Object explorer window and select
DELETE.

Now, execute the following CREATE INDEX query, to create a composite clustered Index on the
Gender and Salary columns.
Create Clustered Index IX_tblEmployee_Gender_Salary
ON tblEmployee(Gender DESC, Salary ASC)

Now, if you issue a select query against this table you should see the data physically arranged, FIRST
by Gender in descending order and then by Salary in ascending order. The result is shown below.

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Non Clustered Index:

A nonclustered index is analogous to an index in a textbook. The data is stored in one place, the index in
another place. The index will have pointers to the storage location of the data. Since, the nonclustered
index is stored separately from the actual data, a table can have more than one non clustered index, just
like how a book can have an index by Chapters at the beginning and another index by common terms at
the end.

In the index itself, the data is stored in an ascending or descending order of the index key, which doesn't
in any way influence the storage of data in the table.

The following SQL creates a Nonclustered index on the NAME column on tblEmployee table:
Create NonClustered Index IX_tblEmployee_Name
ON tblEmployee(Name)

Difference between Clustered and NonClustered Index:

1. Only one clustered index per table, where as you can have more than one non clustered index
2. Clustered index is faster than a non clustered index, because, the non-clustered index has to refer
back to the table, if the selected column is not present in the index.
3. Clustered index determines the storage order of rows in the table, and hence doesn't require
additional disk space, but where as a Non Clustered index is stored seperately from the table, additional
storage space is required.

Unique and Non-Unique Indexes - Part 37

Suggested SQL Server Videos before watching this video
1. Part 9 - Unique Key Constraint
2. Part 35 - Index basics
3. Part 36 - Clustered and Nonclustered indexes

Unique index is used to enforce uniqueness of key values in the index. Let's understand this with an
example.

Create the Employee table using the script below

CREATE TABLE [tblEmployee]
(
[Id] int Primary Key,

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[FirstName] nvarchar(50),
[LastName] nvarchar(50),
[Salary] int,
[Gender] nvarchar(10),
[City] nvarchar(50)
)

Since, we have marked Id column, as the Primary key for this table, a UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX
gets created on the Id column, with Id as the index key.

We can verify this by executing the sp_helpindex system stored procedure as shown below.
Execute sp_helpindex tblEmployee

Output:

Since, we now have a UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX on the Id column, any attempt to duplicate the
key values, will throw an error stating 'Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint
'PK__tblEmplo__3214EC07236943A5'. Cannot insert duplicate key in object dbo.tblEmployee'

Example: The following insert queries will fail

Insert into tblEmployee Values(1,'Mike', 'Sandoz',4500,'Male','New York')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(1,'John', 'Menco',2500,'Male','London')

Now let's try to drop the Unique Clustered index on the Id column. This will raise an error stating - 'An
explicit DROP INDEX is not allowed on index tblEmployee.PK__tblEmplo__3214EC07236943A5. It is
being used for PRIMARY KEY constraint enforcement.'
Drop index tblEmployee.PK__tblEmplo__3214EC07236943A5

So this error message proves that, SQL server internally, uses the UNIQUE index to enforce the
uniqueness of values and primary key.

Expand keys folder in the object explorer window, and you can see a primary key constraint. Now,
expand the indexes folder and you should see a unique clustered index. In the object explorer it just
shows the 'CLUSTERED' word. To, confirm, this is infact an UNIQUE index, right click and select
properties. The properties window, shows the UNIQUE checkbox being selected.

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SQL Server allows us to delete this UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX from the object explorer. so, Right
click on the index, and select DELETE and finally, click OK. Along with the UNIQUE index, the primary
key constraint is also deleted.

Now, let's try to insert duplicate values for the ID column. The rows should be accepted, without any
primary key violation error.
Insert into tblEmployee Values(1,'Mike', 'Sandoz',4500,'Male','New York')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(1,'John', 'Menco',2500,'Male','London')

So, the UNIQUE index is used to enforce the uniqueness of values and primary key constraint.

UNIQUENESS is a property of an Index, and both CLUSTERED and NON-CLUSTERED indexes can
be UNIQUE.

Creating a UNIQUE NON CLUSTERED index on the FirstName and LastName columns.
Create Unique NonClustered Index UIX_tblEmployee_FirstName_LastName
On tblEmployee(FirstName, LastName)

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This unique non clustered index, ensures that no 2 entires in the index has the same first and last
names. In Part 9, of this video series, we have learnt that, a Unique Constraint, can be used to enforce
the uniqueness of values, across one or more columns. There are no major differences between a unique
constraint and a unique index.

In fact, when you add a unique constraint, a unique index gets created behind the scenes. To prove
this, let's add a unique constraint on the city column of the tblEmployee table.
ALTER TABLE tblEmployee
ADD CONSTRAINT UQ_tblEmployee_City
UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED (City)

At this point, we expect a unique constraint to be created. Refresh and Expand the constraints folder
in the object explorer window. The constraint is not present in this folder. Now, refresh and expand the
'indexes' folder. In the indexes folder, you will see a UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED index with name
UQ_tblEmployee_City.

Also, executing EXECUTE SP_HELPCONSTRAINT tblEmployee, lists the constraint as a UNIQUE

NONCLUSTERED index.

So creating a UNIQUE constraint, actually creates a UNIQUE index. So a UNIQUE index can be
created explicitly, using CREATE INDEX statement or indirectly using a UNIQUE constraint. So, when
should you be creating a Unique constraint over a unique index.To make our intentions clear, create
a unique constraint, when data integrity is the objective. This makes the objective of the index very clear.
In either cases, data is validated in the same manner, and the query optimizer does not differentiate
between a unique index created by a unique constraint or manually created.

Note:
1. By default, a PRIMARY KEY constraint, creates a unique clustered index, where as a UNIQUE
constraint creates a unique nonclustered index. These defaults can be changed if you wish to.

2. A UNIQUE constraint or a UNIQUE index cannot be created on an existing table, if the table contains
duplicate values in the key columns. Obviously, to solve this,remove the key columns from the index
definition or delete or update the duplicate values.

3. By default, duplicate values are not allowed on key columns, when you have a unique index or
constraint. For, example, if I try to insert 10 rows, out of which 5 rows contain duplicates, then all the 10
rows are rejected. However, if I want only the 5 duplicate rows to be rejected and accept the non-
duplicate 5 rows, then I can use IGNORE_DUP_KEY option. An example of using IGNORE_DUP_KEY
option is shown below.
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IX_tblEmployee_City
ON tblEmployee(City)
WITH IGNORE_DUP_KEY

Advantages and disadvantages of indexes - Part 38

Suggested SQL Server Videos before watching this video
Part 35 - Index basics

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Part 36 - Clustered and Nonclustered indexes

Part 37 - Unique and Non-Unique Indexes

In this video session, we talk about the advantages and disadvantages of indexes. We wil also talk
about a concept called covering queries.

In Part 35, we have learnt that, Indexes are used by queries to find data quickly. In this part, we will
learn about the different queries that can benefit from indexes.

Create Employees table

CREATE TABLE [tblEmployee]
(
[Id] int Primary Key,
[FirstName] nvarchar(50),
[LastName] nvarchar(50),
[Salary] int,
[Gender] nvarchar(10),
[City] nvarchar(50)
)

Insert sample data:

Insert into tblEmployee Values(1,'Mike', 'Sandoz',4500,'Male','New York')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(2,'Sara', 'Menco',6500,'Female','London')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(3,'John', 'Barber',2500,'Male','Sydney')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(4,'Pam', 'Grove',3500,'Female','Toronto')
Insert into tblEmployee Values(5,'James', 'Mirch',7500,'Male','London')

Create a Non-Clustered Index on Salary Column

Create NonClustered Index IX_tblEmployee_Salary
On tblEmployee (Salary Asc)

Data from tblEmployee table

NonClustered Index

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The following select query benefits from the index on the Salary column, because the salaries are
sorted in ascending order in the index. From the index, it's easy to identify the records where salary is
between 4000 and 8000, and using the row address the corresponding records from the table can be
fetched quickly.
Select * from tblEmployee where Salary > 4000 and Salary < 8000

Not only, the SELECT statement, even the following DELETE and UPDATE statements can also
benefit from the index. To update or delete a row, SQL server needs to first find that row, and the index
can help in searching and finding that specific row quickly.
Delete from tblEmployee where Salary = 2500
Update tblEmployee Set Salary = 9000 where Salary = 7500

Indexes can also help queries, that ask for sorted results. Since the Salaries are already sorted, the
database engine, simply scans the index from the first entry to the last entry and retrieve the rows in
sorted order. This avoids, sorting of rows during query execution, which can significantly imrpove the
processing time.
Select * from tblEmployee order by Salary

The index on the Salary column, can also help the query below, by scanning the index in reverse order.
Select * from tblEmployee order by Salary Desc

GROUP BY queries can also benefit from indexes. To group the Employees with the same salary, the
query engine, can use the index on Salary column, to retrieve the already sorted salaries. Since matching
salaries are present in consecutive index entries, it is to count the total number of Employees at each
Salary quickly.
Select Salary, COUNT(Salary) as Total
from tblEmployee
Group By Salary

Diadvantages of Indexes:
Additional Disk Space: Clustered Index does not, require any additional storage. Every Non-Clustered
index requires additional space as it is stored separately from the table.The amount of space required will
depend on the size of the table, and the number and types of columns used in the index.

Insert Update and Delete statements can become slow: When DML (Data Manipulation Language)
statements (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) modifies data in a table, the data in all the indexes also needs
to be updated. Indexes can help, to search and locate the rows, that we want to delete, but too many
indexes to update can actually hurt the performance of data modifications.

What is a covering query?

If all the columns that you have requested in the SELECT clause of query, are present in the index, then

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there is no need to lookup in the table again. The requested columns data can simply be returned from
the index.

A clustered index, always covers a query, since it contains all of the data in a table. A composite index
is an index on two or more columns. Both clustered and nonclustered indexes can be composite indexes.
To a certain extent, a composite index, can cover a query.

Views in sql server - Part 39

What is a View?
A view is nothing more than a saved SQL query. A view can also be considered as a virtual table.

Let's understand views with an example. We will base all our examples on tblEmployee and
tblDepartment tables.

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Salary int,
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

SQL Script to create tblDepartment table:

CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 5000, 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 3400, 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 6000, 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 4800, 'Male', 4)
Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 3200, 'Female', 1)

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Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 4800, 'Male', 3)

At this point Employees and Departments table should look like this.
Employees Table:

Departments Table:

Now, let's write a Query which returns the output as shown below:

To get the expected output, we need to join tblEmployees table with tblDepartments table. If you are
new to joins, please click here to view the video on Joins in SQL Server.
Select Id, Name, Salary, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId

Now let's create a view, using the JOINS query, we have just written.
Create View vWEmployeesByDepartment
as
Select Id, Name, Salary, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment

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on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId

To select data from the view, SELECT statement can be used the way, we use it with a table.
SELECT * from vWEmployeesByDepartment

When this query is executed, the database engine actually retrieves the data from the underlying base
tables, tblEmployees and tblDepartments. The View itself, doesnot store any data by default. However,
we can change this default behaviour, which we will talk about in a later session. So, this is the reason, a
view is considered, as just, a stored query or a virtual table.

Advantages of using views:

1. Views can be used to reduce the complexity of the database schema, for non IT users. The sample
view, vWEmployeesByDepartment, hides the complexity of joins. Non-IT users, finds it easy to query
the view, rather than writing complex joins.

2. Views can be used as a mechanism to implement row and column level security.
Row Level Security:
For example, I want an end user, to have access only to IT Department employees. If I grant him access
to the underlying tblEmployees and tblDepartments tables, he will be able to see, every department
employees. To achieve this, I can create a view, which returns only IT Department employees, and grant
the user access to the view and not to the underlying table.

View that returns only IT department employees:

Create View vWITDepartment_Employees
as
Select Id, Name, Salary, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
where tblDepartment.DeptName = 'IT'

Column Level Security:

Salary is confidential information and I want to prevent access to that column. To achieve this, we can
create a view, which excludes the Salary column, and then grant the end user access to this views, rather
than the base tables.

View that returns all columns except Salary column:

Create View vWEmployeesNonConfidentialData
as
Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId

3. Views can be used to present only aggregated data and hide detailed data.

View that returns summarized data, Total number of employees by Department.

Create View vWEmployeesCountByDepartment
as
Select DeptName, COUNT(Id) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment

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on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
Group By DeptName

To look at view definition - sp_helptext vWName

To modify a view - ALTER VIEW statement
To Drop a view - DROP VIEW vWName

Updateable Views - Part 40

In Part 39, we have discussed the basics of views. In this session we will learn about Updateable
Views. Let's create tblEmployees table and populate it with some sample data.

Create Table tblEmployee Script:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Salary int,
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

Script to insert data:

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 5000, 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 3400, 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 6000, 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 4800, 'Male', 4)
Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 3200, 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 4800, 'Male', 3)

Let's create a view, which returns all the columns from the tblEmployees table, except Salary column.
Create view vWEmployeesDataExceptSalary
as
Select Id, Name, Gender, DepartmentId
from tblEmployee

Select data from the view: A view does not store any data. So, when this query is executed, the
database engine actually retrieves data, from the underlying tblEmployee base table.
Select * from vWEmployeesDataExceptSalary

Is it possible to Insert, Update and delete rows, from the underlying tblEmployees table, using view
vWEmployeesDataExceptSalary?
Yes, SQL server views are updateable.

The following query updates, Name column from Mike to Mikey. Though, we are updating the view,

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SQL server, correctly updates the base table tblEmployee. To verify, execute, SELECT statement, on
tblEmployee table.
Update vWEmployeesDataExceptSalary
Set Name = 'Mikey' Where Id = 2

Along the same lines, it is also possible to insert and delete rows from the base table using views.
Delete from vWEmployeesDataExceptSalary where Id = 2
Insert into vWEmployeesDataExceptSalary values (2, 'Mikey', 'Male', 2)

Now, let us see, what happens if our view is based on multiple base tables. For this purpose, let's
create tblDepartment table and populate with some sample data.
SQL Script to create tblDepartment table
CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Create a view which joins tblEmployee and tblDepartment tables, and return the result as shown
below.

View that joins tblEmployee and tblDepartment

Create view vwEmployeeDetailsByDepartment
as
Select Id, Name, Salary, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId

Select Data from view vwEmployeeDetailsByDepartment

Select * from vwEmployeeDetailsByDepartment

vwEmployeeDetailsByDepartment Data:

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Now, let's update, John's department, from HR to IT. At the moment, there are 2 employees (Ben, and
John) in the HR department.
Update vwEmployeeDetailsByDepartment
set DeptName='IT' where Name = 'John'

Now, Select data from the view vwEmployeeDetailsByDepartment:

Notice, that Ben's department is also changed to IT. To understand the reasons for incorrect
UPDATE, select Data from tblDepartment and tblEmployee base tables.

tblEmployee Table

tblDepartment

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The UPDATE statement, updated DeptName from HR to IT in tblDepartment table, instead of

upadting DepartmentId column in tblEmployee table. So, the conclusion - If a view is based on multiple
tables, and if you update the view, it may not update the underlying base tables correctly. To correctly
update a view, that is based on multiple table, INSTEAD OF triggers are used.

We will discuss about triggers and correctly updating a view that is based on multiple tables, in a later
video session.

Indexed views in sql server - Part 41

Suggested SQL Server Videos before watching this Video
1. Part 39 - Views in sql server
2. Part 40 - Updateable views in sql server

In Part 39, we have covered the basics of views and in Part 40, we have seen, how to update the
underlying base tables thru a view. In this video session, we will learn about INDEXED VIEWS.

What is an Indexed View or What happens when you create an Index on a view?
A standard or Non-indexed view, is just a stored SQL query. When, we try to retrieve data from the
view, the data is actually retrieved from the underlying base tables. So, a view is just a virtual table it does
not store any data, by default.

However, when you create an index, on a view, the view gets materialized. This means, the view is
now, capable of storing data. In SQL server, we call them Indexed views and in Oracle, Materialized
views.

Let's now, look at an example of creating an Indexed view. For the purpose of this video, we will be
using tblProduct and tblProductSales tables.

Script to create table tblProduct

Create Table tblProduct
(
ProductId int primary key,
Name nvarchar(20),
UnitPrice int
)

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Script to pouplate tblProduct, with sample data

Insert into tblProduct Values(1, 'Books', 20)
Insert into tblProduct Values(2, 'Pens', 14)
Insert into tblProduct Values(3, 'Pencils', 11)
Insert into tblProduct Values(4, 'Clips', 10)

Script to create table tblProductSales

Create Table tblProductSales
(
ProductId int,
QuantitySold int
)

Script to pouplate tblProductSales, with sample data

Insert into tblProductSales values(1, 10)
Insert into tblProductSales values(3, 23)
Insert into tblProductSales values(4, 21)
Insert into tblProductSales values(2, 12)
Insert into tblProductSales values(1, 13)
Insert into tblProductSales values(3, 12)
Insert into tblProductSales values(4, 13)
Insert into tblProductSales values(1, 11)
Insert into tblProductSales values(2, 12)
Insert into tblProductSales values(1, 14)

tblProduct Table

tblProductSales Table

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Create a view which returns Total Sales and Total Transactions by Product. The output should be,
as shown below.

Script to create view vWTotalSalesByProduct

Create view vWTotalSalesByProduct
with SchemaBinding
as
Select Name,
SUM(ISNULL((QuantitySold * UnitPrice), 0)) as TotalSales,
COUNT_BIG(*) as TotalTransactions
from dbo.tblProductSales
join dbo.tblProduct
on dbo.tblProduct.ProductId = dbo.tblProductSales.ProductId
group by Name

If you want to create an Index, on a view, the following rules should be followed by the view. For the
complete list of all rules, please check MSDN.
1. The view should be created with SchemaBinding option

2. If an Aggregate function in the SELECT LIST, references an expression, and if there is a possibility for
that expression to become NULL, then, a replacement value should be specified. In this example, we are
using, ISNULL() function, to replace NULL values with ZERO.

3. If GROUP BY is specified, the view select list must contain a COUNT_BIG(*) expression

4. The base tables in the view, should be referenced with 2 part name. In this example, tblProduct and

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tblProductSales are referenced using dbo.tblProduct and dbo.tblProductSales respectively.

Now, let's create an Index on the view:

The first index that you create on a view, must be a unique clustered index. After the unique clustered
index has been created, you can create additional nonclustered indexes.
Create Unique Clustered Index UIX_vWTotalSalesByProduct_Name
on vWTotalSalesByProduct(Name)

Since, we now have an index on the view, the view gets materialized. The data is stored in the view.
So when we execute Select * from vWTotalSalesByProduct, the data is retrurned from the view itself,
rather than retrieving data from the underlying base tables.

Indexed views, can significantly improve the performance of queries that involves JOINS and
Aggeregations. The cost of maintaining an indexed view is much higher than the cost of maintaining a
table index.

Indexed views are ideal for scenarios, where the underlying data is not frequently changed. Indexed
views are more often used in OLAP systems, because the data is mainly used for reporting and analysis
purposes. Indexed views, may not be suitable for OLTP systems, as the data is frequently addedd and
changed.

Limitations of views - Part 42

Suggested SQL Server Videos before watching this Video
Part 39 - View basics
Part 40 - Updateable views
Part 41 - Indexed views

1. You cannot pass parameters to a view. Table Valued functions are an excellent replacement for
parameterized views.

We will use tblEmployee table for our examples. SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:
CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Salary int,
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 5000, 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 3400, 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 6000, 'Female', 1)

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Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 4800, 'Male', 4)

Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 3200, 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 4800, 'Male', 3)

Employee Table

-- Error : Cannot pass Parameters to Views

Create View vWEmployeeDetails
@Gender nvarchar(20)
as
Select Id, Name, Gender, DepartmentId
from tblEmployee
where Gender = @Gender

Table Valued functions can be used as a replacement for parameterized views.

Create function fnEmployeeDetails(@Gender nvarchar(20))
Returns Table
as
Return
(Select Id, Name, Gender, DepartmentId
from tblEmployee where Gender = @Gender)

Calling the function

Select * from dbo.fnEmployeeDetails('Male')

2. Rules and Defaults cannot be associated with views.

3. The ORDER BY clause is invalid in views unless TOP or FOR XML is also specified.
Create View vWEmployeeDetailsSorted
as
Select Id, Name, Gender, DepartmentId
from tblEmployee
order by Id
If you use ORDER BY, you will get an error stating - 'The ORDER BY clause is invalid in views, inline
functions, derived tables, subqueries, and common table expressions, unless TOP or FOR XML is also
specified.'

4. Views cannot be based on temporary tables.

Create Table ##TestTempTable(Id int, Name nvarchar(20), Gender nvarchar(10))

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Insert into ##TestTempTable values(101, 'Martin', 'Male')

Insert into ##TestTempTable values(102, 'Joe', 'Female')
Insert into ##TestTempTable values(103, 'Pam', 'Female')
Insert into ##TestTempTable values(104, 'James', 'Male')

-- Error: Cannot create a view on Temp Tables

Create View vwOnTempTable
as
Select Id, Name, Gender
from ##TestTempTable

DML Triggers - Part 43

In SQL server there are 3 types of triggers
1. DML triggers
2. DDL triggers
3. Logon trigger

We will discuss about DDL and logon triggers in a later session. In this video, we will learn about
DML triggers.

In general, a trigger is a special kind of stored procedure that automatically executes when an event
occurs in the database server.

DML stands for Data Manipulation Language. INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements are DML
statements. DML triggers are fired, when ever data is modified using INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE
events.

DML triggers can be again classified into 2 types.

1. After triggers (Sometimes called as FOR triggers)
2. Instead of triggers

After triggers, as the name says, fires after the triggering action. The INSERT, UPDATE, and
DELETE statements, causes an after trigger to fire after the respective statements complete execution.

On ther hand, as the name says, INSTEAD of triggers, fires instead of the triggering action. The
INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements, can cause an INSTEAD OF trigger to fire INSTEAD OF the
respective statement execution.

We will use tblEmployee and tblEmployeeAudit tables for our examples

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Salary int,
Gender nvarchar(10),

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DepartmentId int
)

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 5000, 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 3400, 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 6000, 'Female', 1)

tblEmployee

SQL Script to create tblEmployeeAudit table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployeeAudit
(
Id int identity(1,1) primary key,
AuditData nvarchar(1000)
)

When ever, a new Employee is added, we want to capture the ID and the date and time, the new
employee is added in tblEmployeeAudit table. The easiest way to achieve this, is by having an AFTER
TRIGGER for INSERT event.

Example for AFTER TRIGGER for INSERT event on tblEmployee table:

CREATE TRIGGER tr_tblEMployee_ForInsert
ON tblEmployee
FOR INSERT
AS
BEGIN
Declare @Id int
Select @Id = Id from inserted

insert into tblEmployeeAudit

values('New employee with Id = ' + Cast(@Id as nvarchar(5)) + ' is added at ' + cast(Getdate() as
nvarchar(20)))
END

In the trigger, we are getting the id from inserted table. So, what is this inserted table? INSERTED
table, is a special table used by DML triggers. When you add a new row into tblEmployee table, a copy of
the row will also be made into inserted table, which only a trigger can access. You cannot access this
table outside the context of the trigger. The structure of the inserted table will be identical to the structure
of tblEmployee table.

So, now if we execute the following INSERT statement on tblEmployee. Immediately, after inserting
the row into tblEmployee table, the trigger gets fired (executed automatically), and a row into

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tblEmployeeAudit, is also inserted.

Insert into tblEmployee values (7,'Tan', 2300, 'Female', 3)

Along, the same lines, let us now capture audit information, when a row is deleted from the table,
tblEmployee.
Example for AFTER TRIGGER for DELETE event on tblEmployee table:
CREATE TRIGGER tr_tblEMployee_ForDelete
ON tblEmployee
FOR DELETE
AS
BEGIN
Declare @Id int
Select @Id = Id from deleted

insert into tblEmployeeAudit

values('An existing employee with Id = ' + Cast(@Id as nvarchar(5)) + ' is deleted at ' + Cast(Getdate()
as nvarchar(20)))
END

The only difference here is that, we are specifying, the triggering event as DELETE and retrieving the
deleted row ID from DELETED table. DELETED table, is a special table used by DML triggers. When you
delete a row from tblEmployee table, a copy of the deleted row will be made available in DELETED table,
which only a trigger can access. Just like INSERTED table, DELETED table cannot be accessed, outside
the context of the trigger and, the structure of the DELETED table will be identical to the structure of
tblEmployee table.

In the next session, we will talk about AFTER trigger for UPDATE event.

After update trigger - Part 44

This video is a continuation of Part - 43, Please watch Part 43, before watching this video.

Triggers make use of 2 special tables, INSERTED and DELETED. The inserted table contains the
updated data and the deleted table contains the old data. The After trigger for UPDATE event, makes use
of both inserted and deleted tables.

Create AFTER UPDATE trigger script:

Create trigger tr_tblEmployee_ForUpdate
on tblEmployee
for Update
as
Begin
Select * from deleted
Select * from inserted
End

Now, execute this query:

Update tblEmployee set Name = 'Tods', Salary = 2000,

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Gender = 'Female' where Id = 4

Immediately after the UPDATE statement execution, the AFTER UPDATE trigger gets fired, and you
should see the contenets of INSERTED and DELETED tables.

The following AFTER UPDATE trigger, audits employee information upon UPDATE, and stores the
audit data in tblEmployeeAudit table.
Alter trigger tr_tblEmployee_ForUpdate
on tblEmployee
for Update
as
Begin
-- Declare variables to hold old and updated data
Declare @Id int
Declare @OldName nvarchar(20), @NewName nvarchar(20)
Declare @OldSalary int, @NewSalary int
Declare @OldGender nvarchar(20), @NewGender nvarchar(20)
Declare @OldDeptId int, @NewDeptId int

-- Variable to build the audit string

Declare @AuditString nvarchar(1000)

-- Load the updated records into temporary table

Select *
into #TempTable
from inserted

-- Loop thru the records in temp table

While(Exists(Select Id from #TempTable))
Begin
--Initialize the audit string to empty string
Set @AuditString = ''

-- Select first row data from temp table

Select Top 1 @Id = Id, @NewName = Name,
@NewGender = Gender, @NewSalary = Salary,
@NewDeptId = DepartmentId
from #TempTable

-- Select the corresponding row from deleted table

Select @OldName = Name, @OldGender = Gender,
@OldSalary = Salary, @OldDeptId = DepartmentId
from deleted where Id = @Id

-- Build the audit string dynamically

Set @AuditString = 'Employee with Id = ' + Cast(@Id as nvarchar(4)) + ' changed'
if(@OldName <> @NewName)
Set @AuditString = @AuditString + ' NAME from ' + @OldName + ' to ' + @NewName

if(@OldGender <> @NewGender)

Set @AuditString = @AuditString + ' GENDER from ' + @OldGender + ' to ' + @NewGender

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if(@OldSalary <> @NewSalary)

Set @AuditString = @AuditString + ' SALARY from ' + Cast(@OldSalary as nvarchar(10))+ ' to
' + Cast(@NewSalary as nvarchar(10))

if(@OldDeptId <> @NewDeptId)

Set @AuditString = @AuditString + ' DepartmentId from ' + Cast(@OldDeptId as
nvarchar(10))+ ' to ' + Cast(@NewDeptId as nvarchar(10))

insert into tblEmployeeAudit values(@AuditString)

-- Delete the row from temp table, so we can move to the next row
Delete from #TempTable where Id = @Id
End
End

Instead of insert trigger - Part 45

Suggested SQL Server Videos before watching this Video
Part 39 - Views
Part 40 - Updateable Views
Part 43 - DML triggers
Part 44 - DML After Update Trigger

In this video we will learn about, INSTEAD OF triggers, specifically INSTEAD OF INSERT trigger. We
know that, AFTER triggers are fired after the triggering event(INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE events),
where as, INSTEAD OF triggers are fired instead of the triggering event(INSERT, UPDATE or
DELETE events). In general, INSTEAD OF triggers are usually used to correctly update views that are
based on multiple tables.

We will base our demos on Employee and Department tables. So, first, let's create these 2 tables.

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

SQL Script to create tblDepartment table

CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

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Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 'Male', 4)
Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 'Male', 3)

Since, we now have the required tables, let's create a view based on these tables. The view should
return Employee Id, Name, Gender and DepartmentName columns. So, the view is obviously based on
multiple tables.

Script to create the view:

Create view vWEmployeeDetails
as
Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId

When you execute, Select * from vWEmployeeDetails, the data from the view, should be as shown
below

Now, let's try to insert a row into the view, vWEmployeeDetails, by executing the following query. At
this point, an error will be raised stating 'View or function vWEmployeeDetails is not updatable because
the modification affects multiple base tables.'
Insert into vWEmployeeDetails values(7, 'Valarie', 'Female', 'IT')

So, inserting a row into a view that is based on multipe tables, raises an error by default. Now, let's
understand, how INSTEAD OF TRIGGERS can help us in this situation. Since, we are getting an error,
when we are trying to insert a row into the view, let's create an INSTEAD OF INSERT trigger on the view
vWEmployeeDetails.

Script to create INSTEAD OF INSERT trigger:

Create trigger tr_vWEmployeeDetails_InsteadOfInsert

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on vWEmployeeDetails
Instead Of Insert
as
Begin
Declare @DeptId int

--Check if there is a valid DepartmentId

--for the given DepartmentName
Select @DeptId = DeptId
from tblDepartment
join inserted
on inserted.DeptName = tblDepartment.DeptName

--If DepartmentId is null throw an error

--and stop processing
if(@DeptId is null)
Begin
Raiserror('Invalid Department Name. Statement terminated', 16, 1)
return
End

--Finally insert into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee(Id, Name, Gender, DepartmentId)
Select Id, Name, Gender, @DeptId
from inserted
End

Now, let's execute the insert query:

Insert into vWEmployeeDetails values(7, 'Valarie', 'Female', 'IT')

The instead of trigger correctly inserts, the record into tblEmployee table. Since, we are inserting a
row, the inserted table, contains the newly added row, where as the deleted table will be empty.

In the trigger, we used Raiserror() function, to raise a custom error, when the
DepartmentName provided in the insert query, doesnot exist. We are passing 3 parameters to the
Raiserror() method. The first parameter is the error message, the second parameter is the severity level.
Severity level 16, indicates general errors that can be corrected by the user. The final parameter is
the state. We will talk about Raiserror() and exception handling in sql server, in a later video session.

Instead of update triggers - Part 46

Suggested SQL Server Videos before watching this Video
Part 43 - DML triggers
Part 44 - DML After Update Trigger
Part 45 - Instead of Insert Trigger

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In this video we will learn about, INSTEAD OF UPDATE trigger. An INSTEAD OF UPDATE triggers
gets fired instead of an update event, on a table or a view. For example, let's say we have, an INSTEAD
OF UPDATE trigger on a view or a table, and then when you try to update a row with in that view or table,
instead of the UPDATE, the trigger gets fired automatically. INSTEAD OF UPDATE TRIGGERS, are of
immense help, to correctly update a view, that is based on multiple tables.

Let's create the required Employee and Department tables, that we will be using for this demo.

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

SQL Script to create tblDepartment table

CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 'Male', 4)
Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 'Male', 3)

Since, we now have the required tables, let's create a view based on these tables. The view should
return Employee Id, Name, Gender and DepartmentName columns. So, the view is obviously based on
multiple tables.
Script to create the view:
Create view vWEmployeeDetails
as
Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId

When you execute, Select * from vWEmployeeDetails, the data from the view, should be as shown
below

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In Part 45, we tried to insert a row into the view, and we got an error stating - 'View or function
vWEmployeeDetails is not updatable because the modification affects multiple base tables.'

Now, let's try to update the view, in such a way that, it affects, both the underlying tables, and see, if we
get the same error. The following UPDATE statement changes Name column from tblEmployee and
DeptName column from tblDepartment. So, when we execute this query, we get the same error.
Update vWEmployeeDetails
set Name = 'Johny', DeptName = 'IT'
where Id = 1

Now, let's try to change, just the department of John from HR to IT. The following UPDATE query,
affects only one table, tblDepartment. So, the query should succeed. But, before executing the query,
please note that, employees JOHN and BEN are in HR department.
Update vWEmployeeDetails
set DeptName = 'IT'
where Id = 1

After executing the query, select the data from the view, and notice that BEN's DeptName is also
changed to IT. We intended to just change JOHN's DeptName. So, the UPDATE didn't work as
expected. This is because, the UPDATE query, updated the DeptName from HR to IT, in tblDepartment
table. For the UPDATE to work correctly, we should change the DeptId of JOHN from 3 to 1.

Incorrectly Updated View

Record with Id = 3, has the DeptName changed from 'HR' to 'IT'

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We should have actually updated, JOHN's DepartmentId from 3 to 1

So, the conclusion is that, if a view is based on multiple tables, and if you update the view, the
UPDATE may not always work as expected. To correctly update the underlying base tables, thru a view,
INSTEAD OF UPDATE TRIGGER can be used.

Before, we create the trigger, let's update the DeptName to HR for record with Id = 3.
Update tblDepartment set DeptName = 'HR' where DeptId = 3

Script to create INSTEAD OF UPDATE trigger:

Create Trigger tr_vWEmployeeDetails_InsteadOfUpdate
on vWEmployeeDetails
instead of update
as
Begin
-- if EmployeeId is updated
if(Update(Id))
Begin
Raiserror('Id cannot be changed', 16, 1)
Return
End

-- If DeptName is updated
if(Update(DeptName))
Begin
Declare @DeptId int

Select @DeptId = DeptId

from tblDepartment
join inserted
on inserted.DeptName = tblDepartment.DeptName

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if(@DeptId is NULL )
Begin
Raiserror('Invalid Department Name', 16, 1)
Return
End

Update tblEmployee set DepartmentId = @DeptId

from inserted
join tblEmployee
on tblEmployee.Id = inserted.id
End

-- If gender is updated
if(Update(Gender))
Begin
Update tblEmployee set Gender = inserted.Gender
from inserted
join tblEmployee
on tblEmployee.Id = inserted.id
End

-- If Name is updated
if(Update(Name))
Begin
Update tblEmployee set Name = inserted.Name
from inserted
join tblEmployee
on tblEmployee.Id = inserted.id
End
End

Now, let's try to update JOHN's Department to IT.

Update vWEmployeeDetails
set DeptName = 'IT'
where Id = 1

The UPDATE query works as expected. The INSTEAD OF UPDATE trigger, correctly updates, JOHN's
DepartmentId to 1, in tblEmployee table.

Now, let's try to update Name, Gender and DeptName. The UPDATE query, works as expected,
without raising the error - 'View or function vWEmployeeDetails is not updatable because the modification
affects multiple base tables.'
Update vWEmployeeDetails
set Name = 'Johny', Gender = 'Female', DeptName = 'IT'
where Id = 1

Update() function used in the trigger, returns true, even if you update with the same value. For this
reason, I recomend to compare values between inserted and deleted tables, rather than relying on
Update() function. The Update() function does not operate on a per row basis, but across all rows.

Instead of delete trigger - Part 47

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Suggested SQL Server Videos before watching this Video

Part 45 - Instead of Insert Trigger
Part 46 - Instead of Update Trigger

In this video we will learn about, INSTEAD OF DELETE trigger. An INSTEAD OF DELETE trigger gets
fired instead of the DELETE event, on a table or a view. For example, let's say we have, an INSTEAD OF
DELETE trigger on a view or a table, and then when you try to update a row from that view or table,
instead of the actual DELETE event, the trigger gets fired automatically. INSTEAD OF DELETE
TRIGGERS, are used, to delete records from a view, that is based on multiple tables.

Let's create the required Employee and Department tables, that we will be using for this demo.

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

SQL Script to create tblDepartment table

CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 'Male', 4)
Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 'Male', 3)

Since, we now have the required tables, let's create a view based on these tables. The view should
return Employee Id, Name, Gender and DepartmentName columns. So, the view is obviously based on
multiple tables.
Script to create the view:

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Create view vWEmployeeDetails

as
Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId

When you execute, Select * from vWEmployeeDetails, the data from the view, should be as shown
below

In Part 45, we tried to insert a row into the view, and we got an error stating - 'View or function
vWEmployeeDetails is not updatable because the modification affects multiple base tables'. Along, the
same lines, in Part 46, when we tried to update a view that is based on multiple tables, we got the same
error. To get the error, the UPDATE should affect both the base tables. If the update affects only one
base table, we don't get the error, but the UPDATE does not work correctly, if the DeptName column is
updated.

Now, let's try to delete a row from the view, and we get the same error.
Delete from vWEmployeeDetails where Id = 1

Script to create INSTEAD OF DELETE trigger:

Create Trigger tr_vWEmployeeDetails_InsteadOfDelete
on vWEmployeeDetails
instead of delete
as
Begin
Delete tblEmployee
from tblEmployee
join deleted
on tblEmployee.Id = deleted.Id

--Subquery
--Delete from tblEmployee
--where Id in (Select Id from deleted)
End

Notice that, the trigger tr_vWEmployeeDetails_InsteadOfDelete, makes use of DELETED table.

DELETED table contains all the rows, that we tried to DELETE from the view. So, we are joining the
DELETED table with tblEmployee, to delete the rows. You can also use sub-queries to do the same. In
most cases JOINs are faster than SUB-QUERIEs. However, in cases, where you only need a subset of
records from a table that you are joining with, sub-queries can be faster.

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Upon executing the following DELETE statement, the row gets DELETED as expected from
tblEmployee table
Delete from vWEmployeeDetails where Id = 1

Trigger INSERTED or DELETED?

Instead of DELETED table is always empty and the INSERTED table contains the newly inserted
Insert data.

Instead of
INSERTED table is always empty and the DELETED table contains the rows deleted
Delete

Instead of DELETED table contains OLD data (before update), and inserted table contains NEW
Update data(Updated data)

Derived table and CTE in sql server - Part 48

In this video we will learn about, Derived tables and common table expressions (CTE's). We will
also explore the differences between Views, Table Variable, Local and Global Temp Tables, Derived
tables and common table expressions.

Let's create the required Employee and Department tables, that we will be using for this demo.

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

SQL Script to create tblDepartment table

CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 'Male', 3)

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Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 'Male', 2)

Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 'Male', 4)
Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 'Male', 3)

Now, we want to write a query which would return the following output. The query should return, the
Department Name and Total Number of employees, with in the department. The departments with greatar
than or equal to 2 employee should only be returned.

Obviously, there are severl ways to do this. Let's see how to achieve this, with the help of a view
Script to create the View
Create view vWEmployeeCount
as
Select DeptName, DepartmentId, COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
group by DeptName, DepartmentId

Query using the view:

Select DeptName, TotalEmployees
from vWEmployeeCount
where TotalEmployees >= 2

Note: Views get saved in the database, and can be available to other queries and stored procedures.
However, if this view is only used at this one place, it can be easily eliminated using other options, like
CTE, Derived Tables, Temp Tables, Table Variable etc.

Now, let's see, how to achieve the same using, temporary tables. We are using local temporary
tables here.
Select DeptName, DepartmentId, COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees
into #TempEmployeeCount
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
group by DeptName, DepartmentId

Select DeptName, TotalEmployees

From #TempEmployeeCount
where TotalEmployees >= 2

Drop Table #TempEmployeeCount

Note: Temporary tables are stored in TempDB. Local temporary tables are visible only in the current
session, and can be shared between nested stored procedure calls. Global temporary tables are visible to
other sessions and are destroyed, when the last connection referencing the table is closed.

Using Table Variable:

Declare @tblEmployeeCount table

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(DeptName nvarchar(20),DepartmentId int, TotalEmployees int)

Insert @tblEmployeeCount
Select DeptName, DepartmentId, COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
group by DeptName, DepartmentId

Select DeptName, TotalEmployees

From @tblEmployeeCount
where TotalEmployees >= 2

Note: Just like TempTables, a table variable is also created in TempDB. The scope of a table variable is
the batch, stored procedure, or statement block in which it is declared. They can be passed as
parameters between procedures.

Using Derived Tables

Select DeptName, TotalEmployees
from
(
Select DeptName, DepartmentId, COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
group by DeptName, DepartmentId
)
as EmployeeCount
where TotalEmployees >= 2

Note: Derived tables are available only in the context of the current query.

Using CTE
With EmployeeCount(DeptName, DepartmentId, TotalEmployees)
as
(
Select DeptName, DepartmentId, COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
group by DeptName, DepartmentId
)

Select DeptName, TotalEmployees

from EmployeeCount
where TotalEmployees >= 2

Note: A CTE can be thought of as a temporary result set that is defined within the execution scope of a
single SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or CREATE VIEW statement. A CTE is similar to a derived
table in that it is not stored as an object and lasts only for the duration of the query.

Common Table Expressions - Part 49

Common table expression (CTE) is introduced in SQL server 2005. A CTE is a temporary result set,
that can be referenced within a SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement, that immediately

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follows the CTE.

Let's create the required Employee and Department tables, that we will be using for this demo.

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

SQL Script to create tblDepartment table

CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 'Male', 4)
Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 'Male', 3)

Write a query using CTE, to display the total number of Employees by Department Name. The output
should be as shown below.

Before we write the query, let's look at the syntax for creating a CTE.
WITH cte_name (Column1, Column2, ..)
AS
( CTE_query )

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SQL query using CTE:

With EmployeeCount(DepartmentId, TotalEmployees)
as
(
Select DepartmentId, COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
group by DepartmentId
)

Select DeptName, TotalEmployees

from tblDepartment
join EmployeeCount
on tblDepartment.DeptId = EmployeeCount.DepartmentId
order by TotalEmployees

We define a CTE, using WITH keyword, followed by the name of the CTE. In our example,
EmployeeCount is the name of the CTE. Within parentheses, we specify the columns that make up the
CTE. DepartmentId and TotalEmployees are the columns of EmployeeCount CTE. These 2 columns
map to the columns returned by the SELECT CTE query. The CTE column names and CTE query
column names can be different. Infact, CTE column names are optional. However, if you do specify, the
number of CTE columns and the CTE SELECT query columns should be same. Otherwise you will get
an error stating - 'EmployeeCount has fewer columns than were specified in the column list'. The column
list, is followed by the as keyword, following which we have the CTE query within a pair of parentheses.

EmployeeCount CTE is being joined with tblDepartment table, in the SELECT query, that immediately
follows the CTE. Remember, a CTE can only be referenced by a SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or
DELETE statement, that immediately follows the CTE. If you try to do something else in between, we
get an error stating - 'Common table expression defined but not used'. The following SQL, raise an error.

With EmployeeCount(DepartmentId, TotalEmployees)

as
(
Select DepartmentId, COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
group by DepartmentId
)

Select 'Hello'

Select DeptName, TotalEmployees

from tblDepartment
join EmployeeCount
on tblDepartment.DeptId = EmployeeCount.DepartmentId
order by TotalEmployees

It is also, possible to create multiple CTE's using a single WITH clause.

With EmployeesCountBy_Payroll_IT_Dept(DepartmentName, Total)
as
(
Select DeptName, COUNT(Id) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
where DeptName IN ('Payroll','IT')
group by DeptName
),

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EmployeesCountBy_HR_Admin_Dept(DepartmentName, Total)
as
(
Select DeptName, COUNT(Id) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblEmployee.DepartmentId = tblDepartment.DeptId
group by DeptName
)
Select * from EmployeesCountBy_HR_Admin_Dept
UNION
Select * from EmployeesCountBy_Payroll_IT_Dept

Updatable CTE - Part 50

Is it possible to UPDATE a CTE?
Yes & No, depending on the number of base tables, the CTE is created upon, and the number of base
tables affected by the UPDATE statement. If this is not clear at the moment, don't worry. We will try to
understand this with an example.

Let's create the required tblEmployee and tblDepartment tables, that we will be using for this demo.

SQL Script to create tblEmployee table:

CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(30),
Gender nvarchar(10),
DepartmentId int
)

SQL Script to create tblDepartment table

CREATE TABLE tblDepartment
(
DeptId int Primary Key,
DeptName nvarchar(20)
)

Insert data into tblDepartment table

Insert into tblDepartment values (1,'IT')
Insert into tblDepartment values (2,'Payroll')
Insert into tblDepartment values (3,'HR')
Insert into tblDepartment values (4,'Admin')

Insert data into tblEmployee table

Insert into tblEmployee values (1,'John', 'Male', 3)
Insert into tblEmployee values (2,'Mike', 'Male', 2)
Insert into tblEmployee values (3,'Pam', 'Female', 1)
Insert into tblEmployee values (4,'Todd', 'Male', 4)

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Insert into tblEmployee values (5,'Sara', 'Female', 1)

Insert into tblEmployee values (6,'Ben', 'Male', 3)

Let's create a simple common table expression, based on tblEmployee table.

Employees_Name_Gender CTE is getting all the required columns from one base table tblEmployee.
With Employees_Name_Gender
as
(
Select Id, Name, Gender from tblEmployee
)
Select * from Employees_Name_Gender

Let's now, UPDATE JOHN's gender from Male to Female, using the Employees_Name_Gender CTE
With Employees_Name_Gender
as
(
Select Id, Name, Gender from tblEmployee
)
Update Employees_Name_Gender Set Gender = 'Female' where Id = 1

Now, query the tblEmployee table. JOHN's gender is actually UPDATED. So, if a CTE is created on
one base table, then it is possible to UPDATE the CTE, which in turn will update the underlying base
table. In this case, UPDATING Employees_Name_Gender CTE, updates tblEmployee table.

Now, let's create a CTE, on both the tables - tblEmployee and tblDepartment. The CTE should
return, Employee Id, Name, Gender and Department. In short the output should be as shown below.

CTE, that returns Employees by Department

With EmployeesByDepartment
as
(
Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblDepartment.DeptId = tblEmployee.DepartmentId
)
Select * from EmployeesByDepartment

Let's update this CTE. Let's change JOHN's Gender from Female to Male. Here, the CTE is based on 2
tables, but the UPDATE statement affects only one base table tblEmployee. So the UPDATE succeeds.
So, if a CTE is based on more than one table, and if the UPDATE affects only one base table, then
the UPDATE is allowed.
With EmployeesByDepartment
as(

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Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName

from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblDepartment.DeptId = tblEmployee.DepartmentId
)
Update EmployeesByDepartment set Gender = 'Male' where Id = 1

Now, let's try to UPDATE the CTE, in such a way, that the update affects both the tables - tblEmployee
and tblDepartment. This UPDATE statement changes Gender from tblEmployee table and DeptName
from tblDepartment table. When you execute this UPDATE, you get an error stating - 'View or function
EmployeesByDepartment is not updatable because the modification affects multiple base tables'. So, if a
CTE is based on multiple tables, and if the UPDATE statement affects more than 1 base table, then the
UPDATE is not allowed.
With EmployeesByDepartment
as
(
Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblDepartment.DeptId = tblEmployee.DepartmentId
)
Update EmployeesByDepartment set
Gender = 'Female', DeptName = 'IT'
where Id = 1

Finally, let's try to UPDATE just the DeptName. Let's change JOHN's DeptName from HR to IT.
Before, you execute the UPDATE statement, notice that BEN is also currently in HR department.
With EmployeesByDepartment
as
(
Select Id, Name, Gender, DeptName
from tblEmployee
join tblDepartment
on tblDepartment.DeptId = tblEmployee.DepartmentId
)
Update EmployeesByDepartment set
DeptName = 'IT' where Id = 1

After you execute the UPDATE. Select data from the CTE, and you will see that BEN's DeptName is also
changed to IT.

This is because, when we updated the CTE, the UPDATE has actually changed the DeptName from HR
to IT, in tblDepartment table, instead of changing the DepartmentId column (from 3 to 1) in
tblEmployee table. So, if a CTE is based on multiple tables, and if the UPDATE statement affects only

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one base table, the update succeeds. But the update may not work as you expect.

So in short if,
1. A CTE is based on a single base table, then the UPDATE suceeds and works as expected.
2. A CTE is based on more than one base table, and if the UPDATE affects multiple base tables, the
update is not allowed and the statement terminates with an error.
3. A CTE is based on more than one base table, and if the UPDATE affects only one base table, the
UPDATE succeeds(but not as expected always)

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SELECT E.Name as Employee, COALESCE(M.Name, 'No Manager') as Manager

FROM tblEmployee E
LEFT JOIN tblEmployee M
ON E.ManagerID = M.EmployeeID

We will discuss about COALESCE() function in detail, in the next session

Note: Text values, should be present in single quotes, but not required for numeric values.

Different operators that can be used in a where clause

Group By - Part 11
In SQL Server we have got lot of aggregate functions. Examples
1. Count()
2. Sum()
3. avg()
4. Min()
5. Max()

Group by clause is used to group a selected set of rows into a set of summary rows by the values of one
or more columns or expressions. It is always used in conjunction with one or more aggregate functions.

I want an sql query, which gives total salaries paid by City. The output should be as shown below.

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Query for retrieving total salaries by city:

We are applying SUM() aggregate function on Salary column, and grouping by city column. This
effectively adds, all salaries of employees with in the same city.
Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Group by City

Note: If you omit, the group by clause and try to execute the query, you get an error - Column
'tblEmployee.City' is invalid in the select list because it is not contained in either an aggregate function or
the GROUP BY clause.

Now, I want an sql query, which gives total salaries by City, by gender. The output should be as shown
below.

Query for retrieving total salaries by city and by gender: It's possible to group by multiple columns. In
this query, we are grouping first by city and then by gender.
Select City, Gender, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
group by City, Gender

Now, I want an sql query, which gives total salaries and total number of employees by City, and by
gender. The output should be as shown below.

Query for retrieving total salaries and total number of employees by City, and by gender: The only
difference here is that, we are using Count() aggregate function.
Select City, Gender, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary,

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COUNT(ID) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
group by City, Gender

Filtering Groups:
WHERE clause is used to filter rows before aggregation, where as HAVING clause is used to filter groups
after aggregations. The following 2 queries produce the same result.

Filtering rows using WHERE clause, before aggrgations take place:

Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Where City = 'London'
group by City

Filtering groups using HAVING clause, after all aggrgations take place:
Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
group by City
Having City = 'London'

From a performance standpoint, you cannot say that one method is less efficient than the other. Sql
server optimizer analyzes each statement and selects an efficient way of executing it. As a best practice,
use the syntax that clearly describes the desired result. Try to eliminate rows that
you wouldn't need, as early as possible.

It is also possible to combine WHERE and HAVING

Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Where Gender = 'Male'
group by City
Having City = 'London'

Difference between WHERE and HAVING clause:

1. WHERE clause can be used with - Select, Insert, and Update statements, where as HAVING clause
can only be used with the Select statement.
2. WHERE filters rows before aggregation (GROUPING), where as, HAVING filters groups, after the
aggregations are performed.
3. Aggregate functions cannot be used in the WHERE clause, unless it is in a sub query contained in a
HAVING clause, whereas, aggregate functions can be used in Having clause.

Group By - Part 11
In SQL Server we have got lot of aggregate functions. Examples
1. Count()
2. Sum()
3. avg()
4. Min()
5. Max()

Group by clause is used to group a selected set of rows into a set of summary rows by the values of one
or more columns or expressions. It is always used in conjunction with one or more aggregate functions.

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I want an sql query, which gives total salaries paid by City. The output should be as shown below.

Query for retrieving total salaries by city:

We are applying SUM() aggregate function on Salary column, and grouping by city column. This
effectively adds, all salaries of employees with in the same city.
Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Group by City

Note: If you omit, the group by clause and try to execute the query, you get an error - Column
'tblEmployee.City' is invalid in the select list because it is not contained in either an aggregate function or
the GROUP BY clause.

Now, I want an sql query, which gives total salaries by City, by gender. The output should be as shown
below.

Query for retrieving total salaries by city and by gender: It's possible to group by multiple columns. In
this query, we are grouping first by city and then by gender.

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Select City, Gender, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary

from tblEmployee
group by City, Gender

Now, I want an sql query, which gives total salaries and total number of employees by City, and by
gender. The output should be as shown below.

Query for retrieving total salaries and total number of employees by City, and by gender: The only
difference here is that, we are using Count() aggregate function.
Select City, Gender, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary,
COUNT(ID) as TotalEmployees
from tblEmployee
group by City, Gender

Filtering Groups:
WHERE clause is used to filter rows before aggregation, where as HAVING clause is used to filter groups
after aggregations. The following 2 queries produce the same result.

Filtering rows using WHERE clause, before aggrgations take place:

Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Where City = 'London'
group by City

Filtering groups using HAVING clause, after all aggrgations take place:
Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
group by City
Having City = 'London'

From a performance standpoint, you cannot say that one method is less efficient than the other. Sql
server optimizer analyzes each statement and selects an efficient way of executing it. As a best practice,
use the syntax that clearly describes the desired result. Try to eliminate rows that
you wouldn't need, as early as possible.

It is also possible to combine WHERE and HAVING

Select City, SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary
from tblEmployee
Where Gender = 'Male'
group by City
Having City = 'London'

Difference between WHERE and HAVING clause:

1. WHERE clause can be used with - Select, Insert, and Update statements, where as HAVING clause
can only be used with the Select statement.

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2. WHERE filters rows before aggregation (GROUPING), where as, HAVING filters groups, after the
aggregations are performed.
3. Aggregate functions cannot be used in the WHERE clause, unless it is in a sub query contained in a
HAVING clause, whereas, aggregate functions can be used in Having clause.

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